Health information seeking behaviour: a concept analysis

Abstract

Background In 2007, Lambert and Loiselle conducted an extensive concept analysis of the term health information seeking behaviour (HISB) to examine the concept's level of maturity and critically analyse its characteristics. Since their groundbreaking work, HISB has evolved with the proliferation of ICTs. The Internet is now a common and often preferred medium for the pursuit of health information. Objectives The previous analysis spanned 42 years of literature; this article describes an analysis of the last 10 years of literature on HISB and how online seeking has caused the concept to evolve in the literature. Methods This study used the concept analysis methodology employed by Lambert and Loiselle in the original analysis. It also included a systematic search conducted in five databases to identify studies from 2007 to 2017, using similar inclusion criteria from the original study. Results Of the more than 500 articles retrieved, 85 journal articles met the inclusion criteria. Consistent with the original work, articles that included outcomes were identified as either behavioural or cognitive. Conclusion Most of the attention of the works studied focused on individuals and their information source preferences. This HISB analysis can be incorporated with studies to understand how various communities seek information in online versus non‐online contexts.

Influencing Factors of Online Health Information Seeking in Selected European Countries

“…Health information seeking is understood as an active and purposeful behaviour undertaken by an individual to find health information from selected information channels and sources (Zimmerman & Shaw, 2020). HISB is a complex, often multi-staged process that can be defined by its triggers, use, and confidence in different channels, types of information sought, and outcomes (Galarce et al, 2011).…”

“…Explaining O-HISB in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Switzerland Our aim is to use known influencing factors of O-HISB related to the variations between the selected countries to describe and explain country-specific O-HISB. Existing models and analyses of O-HISB consider a broad range of O-HISB determinants (Wang et al, 2020;Zimmerman & Shaw, 2020), amongst which personal and situational factors are recognised as the particularly relevant ones (Johnson & Case, 2012;Lambert & Loiselle, 2007;Wang et al, 2020).…”

Gender, education, and digital generations as determinants of attitudes toward health information for health workers in West Java, Indonesia

“…The indicators for the attitude toward health information dimensions in this study are derived from the concept of health information-seeking behavior (HISB), a complex concept that explains health promotion and the psychological state of individuals related to medical conditions ( Zimmerman & Shaw jr, 2019 ). HISB in a broader sense is viewed as how individuals obtain information on health, disease, health promotion, and risks to health ( Lambert and Loiselle, 2007 ; Gavgani et al., 2013 ).…”

Cancer Information-seeking in an Age of COVID-19: Findings from the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service

“…Seeking cancer-related information is recognized as an important, life-saving behavior. When individuals have access to health information that is accurate, trustworthy, understandable, and widely available, they can process and use that information to cope with a threatening health situation, participate in medical decision-making, and engage in behaviors and actions that may help prevent or control the disease (Johnson, 1997;Kreps, 2003;Zimmerman & Shaw, 2020). The benefits of seeking information can be observed across the cancer care continuum.…”