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HISB is a key strategy for many people to understand their health problems and to cope with illness. [2] Recently, thanks to the development of the technologies and networks, people have a trend of seeking health information on the Internet. Particularly, when it comes to the following scenarios, people tend to carry out online HISB: [3]
The Internet is widely used by the general public as a tool for finding health information. [1] In the late 1990s, researchers noted an increase in Internet users' access to health-related content despite the variation in the quality of information, level of accessibility, and overall health literacy. [2]
As mentioned previously, these communities are distinct from general online communities in that they focus exclusively on health-related topics for those currently navigating the world of diseases, illness, and medicine. Furthermore, they also differ from other health-related sites that only allow users to retrieve information.
The CMIS antecedents—demographics, personal experience, salience, and beliefs—are factors that determine an individual's natural predisposition to search for information from particular information carriers. Certain types of health information seeking can be triggered by an individual's degree of personal experience with disease. [3]
Information-seeking behavior is a more specific concept of information behavior. It specifically focuses on searching, finding, and retrieving information. Information-seeking behavior research can focus on improving information systems or, if it includes information need, can also focus on why the user behaves the way they do.
Robinson's (2010) [11] research suggests that when seeking information at work, people rely on both other people and information repositories (e.g., documents and databases), and spend similar amounts of time consulting each (7.8% and 6.4% of work time, respectively; 14.2% in total). However, the distribution of time among the constituent ...
In some populations, health-related websites (e.g., WebMD) and online support groups (e.g., Association for Cancer Online Resources) have increased access to health information. [7] The role of language in communication, especially related to the patients' preferred language physicians use to communicate with them in, also plays a role.
The majority of people in the United States use the internet as a source of health information. [48] The third most common activity for information seeking online is looking up health or medical information. [49] One 2013 study suggested that 22% of healthcare searches online direct users to Wikipedia. [50]