ArticleJMIR formative research2022
Health Information Sourcing and Health Knowledge Quality: Repeated Cross-sectional Survey.
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 10 papers.
What it found
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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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Understanding clinical features, predictors of late presentation, and caregiver perspectives and awareness of strabismus in children: a cross-sectional study in a sub-Saharan African setting.BMC ophthalmology · 2026Article
- Use of digital platforms and social media as a source of information on children's oral health by parents: a cross-sectional survey analysis in a Spanish sample.Frontiers in oral health · 2026Article
- Utilisation of routine health information system and associated factors among health workers in public health institutions of Gofa zone, South Ethiopia regional state:a mixed-methods study.BMJ health & care informatics · 2025Article
- Prevalence and Predictors of Posting Health-Related Content Among US Facebook Users: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Health literacy mediating the association between health information sources and oral health knowledge among Palestinian adolescent refugees: a cross-sectional study.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- The possibility of patient-centered dietetic intervention in the context of health literacy in Hungary.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Causal information changes how we reason: a mixed-methods analysis of decision-making with causal information.Frontiers in cognition · 2025Article
- Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward ultrasound screening for breast cancer among women.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Digital access and health outcomes: The moderating role of socioeconomic status in health information seeking.Digital healthArticle
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPeople's health-related knowledge influences health outcomes, as this knowledge may influence whether individuals follow advice from their doctors or public health agencies. Yet, little attention has been paid to where people obtain health information and how these information sources relate to the quality of knowledge.
objectiveWe aim to discover what information sources people use to learn about health conditions, how these sources relate to the quality of their health knowledge, and how both the number of information sources and health knowledge change over time.
methodsWe surveyed 200 different individuals at 12 time points from March through September 2020. At each time point, we elicited participants' knowledge about causes, risk factors, and preventative interventions for 8 viral (Ebola, common cold, COVID-19, Zika) and nonviral (food allergies, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [ALS], strep throat, stroke) illnesses. Participants were further asked how they learned about each illness and to rate how much they trust various sources of health information.
resultsWe found that participants used different information sources to obtain health information about common illnesses (food allergies, strep throat, stroke) compared to emerging illnesses (Ebola, common cold, COVID-19, Zika). Participants relied mainly on news media, government agencies, and social media for information about emerging illnesses, while learning about common illnesses from family, friends, and medical professionals. Participants relied on social media for information about COVID-19, with their knowledge accuracy of COVID-19 declining over the course of the pandemic. The number of information sources participants used was positively correlated with health knowledge quality, though there was no relationship with the specific source types consulted.
conclusionsBuilding on prior work on health information seeking and factors affecting health knowledge, we now find that people systematically consult different types of information sources by illness type and that the number of information sources people use affects the quality of individuals' health knowledge. Interventions to disseminate health information may need to be targeted to where individuals are likely to seek out information, and these information sources differ systematically by illness type.
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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.