ArticleInternational journal of public health2020
Searching for online health information instead of seeing a physician: a cross-sectional study among high school students in Belgrade, Serbia.
Article in International journal of public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- A meta-analysis of the impact of technology related factors on students' academic performance.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Parental Attachment and Mental Health Literacy in Young Adults: The Mediational Role of Emotional Regulation on Well-Being and Psychopathological.Scandinavian journal of psychology · 2026Article
- Knowledge-Behavior Paradox - Highest Knowledge Contributes to Positive Attitude Toward People Living With HIV, But Not to Condom Use: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Medical Students in Belgrade (Serbia).Health science reports · 2026Article
- Determining health information needs among older adolescents (15-19 years): A survey in Geneva, 2023.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Article
- eHealth Literacy: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Among Italian Adolescents.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Factors associated with online information seeking about mental health among high school students in Belgrade, Serbia.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2025Article
- Could be better: adolescent access to health information and care.European journal of pediatrics · 2024Review
- Developing an Educational Resource Aimed at Improving Adolescent Digital Health Literacy: Using Co-Design as Research Methodology.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Adolescent pursuit of health information online during the COVID-19 pandemic: The roles played by eHealth literacy and psychological distress.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2023Article
- Deviant Peer Affiliation and Adolescent Tobacco and Alcohol Use: The Roles of Tobacco and Alcohol Information Exposure on Social Networking Sites and Digital Literacy.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Available tools to evaluate digital health literacy and engagement with eHealth resources: A scoping review.Heliyon · 2022Article
- Sex in the Context of Substance Use: A Study of Perceived Benefits and Risks, Boundaries, and Behaviors among Adolescents Participating in an Internet-Based Intervention.Archives of sexual behavior · 2022Article
- Predictors of Mental Health Literacy and Information Seeking Behavior Toward Mental Health Among University Students in Resource-Limited Settings.International journal of general medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesFear of being judged and stigmatized has been reported as barriers for adolescents to timely use healthcare services. The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence and factors associated with online health information seeking instead of seeing a physician among high school students.
methodsA cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was carried out in four out of 21 public high schools in Belgrade, from December 2016 to January 2017 (n = 702, 41.9% males, 15-19 years old). The association of socio-demographic characteristics, digital literacy, interest in health topics and the use of online platforms with health information seeking was analysed using multinomial regression models.
resultsMore than half of high school students (56.6%) search for online health information instead of seeking a physician. Being male, having lower-grade point average, attending humanities-languages program, older age at first Internet use, better e-health literacy, use of smartphones, interest in sexually transmitted diseases and mental health, use of websites run by physicians and Youtube was associated with online health information seeking instead of in-person visit to a physician.
conclusionsSetting up safe and supportive online platform could help adolescents improve health education. Physicians who see adolescent patients should encourage discussions about sensitive health topics.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.