Who can help me? Understanding the antecedent and consequence of medical information seeking behavior in the era of bigdata

IntroductionThe advent of bigdata era fundamentally transformed the nature of medical information seeking and the traditional binary medical relationship. Weaving stress coping theory and information processing theory, we developed an integrative perspective on information seeking behavior and explored the antecedent and consequence of such behavior.MethodsData were collected from 573 women suffering from infertility who was seeking assisted reproductive technology treatment in China. We used AMOS 22.0 and the PROCESS macro in SPSS 25.0 software to test our model.ResultsOur findings demonstrated that patients’ satisfaction with information received from the physicians negatively predicted their behavior involvement in information seeking, such behavior positively related to their perceived information overload, and the latter negatively related to patient-physician relationship quality. Further findings showed that medical information seeking behavior and perceived information overload would serially mediate the impacts of satisfaction with information received from physicians on patient-physician relationship quality.DiscussionThis study extends knowledge of information seeking behavior by proposing an integrative model and expands the application of stress coping theory and information processing theory. Additionally, it provides valuable implications for patients, physicians and public health information service providers

Intention to Seek Information on Cancer Genetics

Objective. The public has a high interest in seeking personal genetic information, which holds implications for health information seeking research and health care policy. Rapid advances in cancer genetics research promise early detection, prevention and treatment, yet consumers may have greater difficulty finding and using the information they may need to make informed decisions regarding their personal health and the future of their families. Design. A statewide telephone survey was conducted of non-institutionalized Kentucky residents 18 years of age or older to investigate factors associated with the intention to seek cancer genetics information, including the need for such information seeking help. Results. The results show that intention to seek cancer genetics information, if testing were readily available, is moderately high (62.5% of those responding; n=835), and that status as a racial minority, the perception that cancer runs in one\u27s family, and frequent worrying about cancer risk are statistically significant predictors of intent to seek genetics information. Conclusions. We argue that an already complex health information environment will be even more difficult for individuals to navigate as genetic research becomes more ubiquitous in health care. An increase in demand for genetics information in various forms, as suggested by these results and those of other studies, implies that enduring intervention strategies are needed to help individuals acquire necessary health information literacy skills, with special attention given to racial minorities