Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35179505›Full record

ArticleJMIR formative research2022

The Attitudes of Egyptian Web-Based Health Information Seekers Toward Health Information Provided Through the Internet: Qualitative Study.

Mayada Ghweeba, Antje Lindenmeyer, Sobhi Shishi, Amani Waheed, Mostafa Kofi, Shaymaa Amer

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR formative research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 30% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Mayada GhweebaInstitute of Clinical Sciences, Birmingham, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9872-5533
Antje Lindenmeyer *Institute of Clinical Sciences, Birmingham, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5101-1648
Sobhi ShishiCommunity Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4217-4055
Amani WaheedCommunity Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8011-9252
Mostafa KofiCommunity Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0222-9776
Shaymaa AmerCommunity Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5089-9702
Suez Canal University · EGUniversity of Birmingham · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe internet has become an established source of health information for many Egyptian internet users. Understanding users' attitudes toward the benefits and limitations of web-based health information will explain the influence of this information on users' health-related behavior and decisions.

objectiveThis qualitative study aims to understand the attitude of Egyptian internet users toward internet health information and to explore the impact of obtained health information on users' behavior and on their physician-patient relationship.

methodsFor this qualitative study, semistructured interviews were conducted with a total of 49 participants (41/49, 84% Egyptian internet users and 8/49, 16% physicians) who participated in focus groups or individual interviews. We used a thematic analysis approach to explain and demonstrate participants' views, thoughts, and experiences in using web-based health information.

resultsThe internet has become an important source of health information in comparison with other health information sources and is the central theme that has emerged across the thematic analysis. The attitude toward the use of internet health was classified into three main themes: feeling toward web-based health information (with subthemes: favoring, disliking, neutral, or having ambivalence feelings), motivators to seek internet health information, and behavioral changes using internet health information (subthemes: confidence, satisfaction, and improved knowledge). Themes that emerged from physicians' interviews included the accessibility of the internet health information, good communication, and coordination of care between patients and their physicians, and the active engagement of patients with their management plan.

conclusionsThe internet has become an essential source of health information for Egyptian adults. Internet health information can improve the patient-physician relationship, especially when users discuss the obtained health information with their physician. Internet health information provided seekers with social support and self-confidence when making health decisions.

Indexed as

doctor–patient relationshipEgyptian internet usersonline health information

Identifiers

PMID35179505
PMCPMC8900895
OpenAlexW4205564226

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.