Association of Online Health Information–Seeking Behavior and Self-Care Activities Among Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Saudi Arabia

Jamal, Amr; Khan, Samina; AlHumud, Ahmed; Al-Duhyyim, Abdulaziz; Alrashed, Mohammed; Shabr, Faisal Bin; Alteraif, Alwalid; Almuziri, Abdullah; Househ, Mowafa; Qureshı, Riaz

doi:10.2196/jmir.4312

Cited by 101 publications

(151 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Our study found that Google was the most commonly used Internet search engine (55.8%) to obtain health-related information as found in previous work from Saudi Arabia on patients with type 2 diabetes patients, where Google was used by 98% of the studied population[26]. Some participants in our study reflected their aversion to using the Internet as a source of collecting health-related information.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…It would be useful to collect more data on socio-economic, educational background, health literacy and demographics to see whether these have any links to the sources that are used for health-information seeking as previous studies have shown that these characteristics may influence behavior[31]. Also, it would be useful to collect information on the language the health information is searched for on the Internet as Jamal and colleagues found a majority of their participants searched in Arabic only[26]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How Do Qataris Source Health Information?

et al. 2016

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BackgroundQatar is experiencing rapid population expansion with increasing demands on healthcare services for both acute and chronic conditions. Sourcing accurate information about health conditions is crucial, yet the methods used for sourcing health information in Qatar are currently unknown. Gaining a better understanding of the sources the Qatari population use to recognize and manage health and/or disease will help to develop strategies to educate individuals about existing and emerging health problems.ObjectiveTo investigate the methods used by the Qatari population to source health information. We hypothesized that the Internet would be a key service used to access health information by the Qatari population.MethodsA researcher-led questionnaire was used to collect information from Qatari adults, aged 18–85 years. Participants were approached in shopping centers and public places in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. The questionnaire was used to ascertain information concerning demographics, health status, and utilization of health care services during the past year as well as sources of health information used.ResultsData from a total of 394 eligible participants were included. The Internet was widely used for seeking health information among the Qatari population (71.1%). A greater proportion of Qatari females (78.7%) reported searching for health-related information using the Internet compared to Qatari males (60.8%). Other commonly used sources were family and friends (37.8%) and Primary Health Care Centers (31.2%). Google was the most commonly used search engine (94.8%). Gender, age and education levels were all significant predictors of Internet use for heath information (P<0.001 for all predictors). Females were 2.9 times more likely than males (P<0.001) and people educated to university or college level were 3.03 times more likely (P<0.001) to use the Internet for heath information.ConclusionsThe Internet is a widely used source to obtain health-related information by the Qatari population. Internet search engines can be utilized to guide users to websites, developed and monitored by healthcare providers, to help convey reliable and accurate health information to Qatar’s growing population.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do Qataris Source Health Information?

et al. 2016

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“…Estimates of how many people utilize the Internet for health information vary approximately between 30 and 80% [2,3,[7][8][9][10], and it is worth examining the patients' "online journey" via which they discover OHI. Many studies suggest an initial reliance on search engines to identify relevant websites [9,11,12]. Subsequently, patients use individual criteria to filter which websites are worth exploring [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, patients' perceptions of the reliability and trustworthiness of websites is important, since this impacts on their decisions regarding their own management. Indeed, concerns have been expressed that patients often obtain inaccurate, outdated, outright false, or even potentially life-threatening online information [12,[14][15][16]. We need to comprehend the information needs that drive patients to utilize this medium; conversely, why is it that some patients choose not to use this seemingly widely available and easy-to-access resource?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Online health information–seeking behavior by endocrinology patients

Kyriacou

Sherratt

2019

Hormones

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Purpose Given that the Internet is important for health-related information (HRI) and the fact that online health information (OHI)-seeking behavior has never been studied in endocrinology, we set out to examine how and why the Internet is utilized for HRI, the frequency of such activity, its impact, future information needs, and the effect of language. Methods A mainly quantitative, embedded mixed-methods study was performed, employing a questionnaire survey. We included 312 patients (78.4% response rate). Results OHI-seeking was reported by 175 patients (56.1%), especially in younger (p = 0.037) and more educated (p = 0.006) patients. OHI-seekers perceived OHI to be high-quality (135, 77.1%) but 104 (59.4%) were unaware of website certification tools. Among OHI-seekers, 63 (36.6%) reported positive behavioral changes after seeking OHI. Only 45 (25.7%) OHI-seekers discussed their gathered information with their endocrinologist. If an interactive e-learning module was available, 194/312 (62.2%) patients expressed willingness to use it, especially those reporting a need for more HRI (p = 0.024). Native speakers were more likely to report that OHI did not meet their information needs (p < 0.001). Conclusions OHI-seeking by patients attending the endocrinology outpatients is widely practiced. The availability of OHI in the native language and e-learning modules may enhance the utility of the Internet for health information.

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Health literacy in Saudi Arabia: Implications for public health and healthcare access

Almubark

Basyouni

Alghanem

et al. 2019

Pharmacology Res & Perspec

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This study aims to describe the distribution of low health literacy (HL) in the population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and to analyze factors associated with low HL in KSA. A cross‐sectional national survey using quota sampling, population‐based of residents of KSA conducted via phone interviews supplemented by in‐person interviews. The survey included an overall evidence‐based measurement of HL. Both descriptive statistics of the sample and a multivariable logistic regression model predicting low HL were developed. A total of 3557 surveys were available for analysis, and 46% of the respondents were classified as having low HL. In regression modelling, low HL was associated with older age groups (age 47‐56 odds ratio [OR] 1.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.30‐1.97; age 57‐66 OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.98‐1.94), the regions of Ha’il (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.5‐0.85) and Najran (OR 1.27, 95% CI 0.99‐1.64), having been formerly married, lower levels of education (less than elementary OR 3.20, 95% CI 2.10‐4.88; and elementary, OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.14‐2.30), lower levels of income, and having sought healthcare exactly three times in the last year. Approximately half of KSA has low HL, and risk factors for low HL were older ages, lower income and education, having been formerly married, and a moderate pattern of health use. Future studies are needed to better characterize the distribution and determinants of low HL across KSA.

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Association of Online Health Information–Seeking Behavior and Self-Care Activities Among Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Saudi Arabia

Cited by 101 publications

References 23 publications

How Do Qataris Source Health Information?

How Do Qataris Source Health Information?

Online health information–seeking behavior by endocrinology patients

Health literacy in Saudi Arabia: Implications for public health and healthcare access

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