Health information-seeking behavior in patients with coronary artery disease: Activating methods

Abstract

Introduction Coronary artery disease (CAD) has a high mortality rate worldwide, and continuous health behavior practice and careful management are required owing to risks such as rapid changes in symptoms and emergency hospitalization. The utilization of health-related information is an important factor for long-term disease management in patients with CAD. For this purpose, an understanding of health information-seeking behavior is needed first. Methods This study analyzed data from the 2021 Korea Medical Panel Survey, and logistic regression analysis was conducted to confirm the factors influencing the health information-seeking behavior of patients with CAD. Results The health information-seeking behavior of patients with CAD differed according to demographic characteristics, and differences in preferred information use were confirmed. Finally, it was identified that insufficient levels of health literacy were a major reason for CAD patients not engaging in health information-seeking behaviors (OR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.09–0.33; p < 0.001). Conclusion This study suggests that to improve health information-seeking behaviors, the application of education and intervention programs to increase the level of health literacy is necessary.