Trust and Credibility in Web-Based Health Information: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

Background: Online sources are becoming increasingly important in health information seeking, such that they may have a significant effect on health care decisions and outcomes. Hence, given the wide range of different sources of online health information from different organisations and individuals, it is important to understand how information seekers evaluate and select the sources that they use, and, more specifically how they assess their credibility and trustworthiness. Objectives: This article reviews empirical studies on trust and credibility in the use of online health information. The article seeks to present a profile of the research conducted on trust and credibility in online health information seeking, to identify the factors that impact judgements of trustworthiness and credibility, and to explore the role of demographic factors affecting trust formation. On this basis, it aims to identify the gaps in current knowledge and to propose an agenda for future research. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted. Searches were conducted using a variety of combinations of the terms: online health information, trust, credibility, and their variants, in four multi-disciplinary and four health-oriented databases. Articles selected were published in English from 2000 onwards; this process generated 3827 unique records. After the application of exclusion criteria, this was reduced to a final dataset of 73 articles, which was analysed in full. Results: Interest in this topic has persisted over the last 15 years, with articles being published in medicine, social science and computer science, and focussing mostly on the USA and the UK. Documents in the dataset fell into three categories: those using trust or credibility as a dependent variable, those using trust or credibility as an independent variable, and studies of the demographic factors that influence the role of trust or credibility in online health information seeking. There is a consensus that in terms of website design, clear layout and design, interactive features and the authority of the owner have a positive effect on trust or credibility, whilst advertising has a negative effect. With regard to content features, authority of the author, ease of use and content have a positive effect on trust or credibility formation. Demographic factors influencing trust formation are age, gender and perceived health status. Conclusions: There is considerable scope for further research. This includes: increased clarity of the interaction between the variables associated with health information seeking; increased consistency on the measurement of trust and credibility; a greater focus on specific online health information sources; and, enhanced understanding of the impact of demographic variables on trust and credibility judgement

Causes and consequences of mine waste microbial community structure

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a widely studied environment in microbiology and geochemistry. However, there have been far fewer detailed studies of the microbiology and biogeochemistry of historic sulfidic mine wastes giving rise to AMD. Key questions have yet to be answered about the ecological mechanisms underlying the relationship between microbial communities and mineral substrates, the environmental features imposing selective pressure on such communities compared to nearby soils and the main ecological principles that can be used to explain such complex relationships. The South West of England has been subject to intensive mining activity, resulting in a variety of mine wastes and disused underground tunnels left undisturbed for decades. The microbial consortia inhabiting these environments make an interesting case study, as they derive from the same region and yet their similarity is unknown. Samples of mine waste and nearby soils were collected from twelve sites in Cornwall and West Devon. Geochemistry and microbial ecology were analysed to study the environmental drivers of microbial community composition. Metals from different fractions of the samples were analysed (total, readily extractable and pore water) and their compositions related to the microbial community. The microbial ecology of most sites appeared to be largely associated with pH, and to a lesser extent to the bulk metals composition. and communities were more diverse in waste sites than nearby soils. This suggested the possibility of strong local adaptation or dispersal limitation. Information on local adaptation of consortia is potentially useful for further manipulations as it provides insights into their performance in defined conditions. Therefore, inocula prepared from the twelve mine wastes were assessed for local adaptation to sympatric and allopatric substrates via a reciprocal transplant experiment. Results revealed that, with the exemption of a few sites, microbial communities were not generally locally adapted. Bioleaching performance (pyrite dissolution) was further analysed to understand how this is improved (or not) through community mixing and coalescence. Four inocula were mixed in all possible sixteen combinations to form new coalesced inocula whose performance was tested in pyrite, showing that coalescence potentially increases performance. The results give insights for the use of communities in biotechnologies such as biohydrometallurgy, as well as the microbial ecology of AMD-generating wastes. This study contributes to the knowledge of the microbial ecology of acidophiles in the scenario of whole communities coalescence and transplant

Gender as an Influencer of Online Health Information-Seeking and Evaluation Behavior

This article contributes to the growing body of research that explores the significance of context in health information behavior. Specifically, through the lens of trust judgments, it demonstrates that gender is a determinant of the information evaluation process. A questionnaire-based survey collected data from adults regarding the factors that influence their judgment of the trustworthiness of online health information. Both men and women identified credibility, recommendation, ease of use, and brand as being of importance in their trust judgments. However, women also take into account style, while men eschew this for familiarity. In addition, men appear to be more concerned with the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the information, the ease with which they can access it, and its familiarity, whereas women demonstrate greater interest in cognition, such as the ease with which they can read and understand the information. These gender differences are consistent with the demographic data, which suggest that: women consult more types of sources than men; men are more likely to be searching with respect to a long-standing health complaint; and, women are more likely than men to use tablets in their health information seeking. Recommendations for further research to better inform practice are offered

The importance of emotional information in online health support groups to support people with type two diabetes

People with chronic conditions face psychological, social and cultural challenges when they control and manage their condition. Online health support groups (OHSGs) play an important role in providing emotional information for people with different conditions to overcome such challenges. The aim of this study is to explore the importance of using OHSGs for emotional information for people with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). This qualitative analysis of 814 threads and posts from three OHSGs examined the emotional information exchanged within OHSGs for people with T2D. The analysis showed that emotional information shared in OHSGs provided members with T2D with sympathy, encouragement love and affirmation that helped them to overcome challenges and control and manage their condition more effectively. The findings have implications for informational, social and emotional support for patients

Factors influencing researchers’ journal selection decisions

The scholarly publication landscape continues to grow in complexity, presenting researchers with ever-increasing dilemmas regarding journal choice. However, research into the decision-making processes associated with journal choice is limited. This article contributes by reporting on an international survey of researchers in various disciplines and with varying levels of experience. The study examines the extent to which various journal characteristics affect journal selection, perceptions of the extent to which university and national research policies impact on their journal choice, and the influence of academics’ familiarity, confidence and objectives on journal choice. The most important factors influencing journal choice were as follows: reliability of reviewing, usefulness of reviewers’ feedback, the reputation of the journal and confidence that their article is in scope for the journal. Publishing productivity, publishing experience, researcher role and discipline had little impact on the ranking of journal choice factors, suggesting that the research community is homogeneous

Late Quaternary climatic variations on the Latium and Campanian Margin of the Tyrrhenian Sea

A multidisciplinary investigation was carried out on two cores, MC 82-12 (Palinuro intraslope basin) and ML 83-21 (Pontinia intraslope basin), recovered during a cruise carried out in 1983, in the eastern part of the Tyrrhenian Sea, funded by C.N.R. Quantitative analyses of planktonic foraminifers, along with oxygen and carbon stable isotopes analyses, and mineralogical and petrological studies on tephra layers allowed to recognize and date, by means of isotopic stratigraphy, the main climatic events of the Late Quaternary: the Last Glacial Maximum, the Younger Dryas event, as well as Termination IA and IB. The planktonic assemblages recognized in the two cores correlate well between them and with the oxygen isotopic signal, even if there are some discrepancies, related to oceanographic factors other than temperature influencing the foraminifers distributio

Uso e repertorio del violoncello piccolo a 4 e 5 corde nel XVII e XVIII secolo

Após uma análise da evolução dos baixos de viola da braccio em geral e do violoncelo em particular nos séculos XVI, XVII e XVIII fundamenta-se a existência, o uso e o repertório do violoncelo a 5 cordas e do violoncelo piccolo a 4 e 5 cordas. São analisadas as diferentes técnicas de execução do violoncelo: da Spalla, da Collo e da Gamba assim como a técnica de arco prona e supina e a sua utilização do ponto de vista de uma execução historicamente informada; Riassunto: Dopo una analisi dell’evoluzione dei bassi di viola da braccio in generale e del violoncello in particolare nel XVI, XVII e XVIII secolo si fondamenta l’esistenza, l’uso e il repertorio del violoncello a 5 corde e del violoncello piccolo a 4 e 5 corde. Vengono analizzate le differenti tecniche di esecuzione del violoncello: da Spalla, da Collo e da Gamba così come la tecnica d’arco prona e supina e la loro utilizzazione nell’ottica di una esecuzione storicamente informata; ABSTRACT: Following an analysis of the evolution of the bassi di viola da braccio in general, and of the violoncello, particularly in the 16th-18th centuries, my work demonstrates the existence, the use, and the repertoire of the five-string cello, and of the four- and five-string violoncello piccolo. It also describes different performance techniques on the cello such as da Spalla, da Collo, and da Gambaas well as the over- and underhand bow techniques, and it provides a better understanding of their use in a historically informed performance practice

Competencies for bibliometrics

Universities are increasingly offering support services for bibliometrics, often based in the library. This paper describes work done to produce a competency model for those supporting bibliometrics. The results of a questionnaire in which current practitioners rated bibliometric tasks as entry level, core or specialist are reported. Entry level competencies identified were explaining bibliometric concepts, doing basic calculations and some professional skills. Activities identified by participants as core are outlined. Reflecting on items that were considered in scope but specialist there was less stress on evaluating scholars, work at a strategic level, working with data outside proprietary bibliometric tools and consultancy-type services as opposed to training for disintermediated use. A competency model is presented as an appendix

Modeling Forbidden Line Emission Profiles from Colliding Wind Binaries

This paper presents calculations for forbidden emission line profile shapes arising from colliding wind binaries. The main application is for systems involving a Wolf-Rayet (WR) star and an OB star companion. The WR wind is assumed to dominate the forbidden line emission. The colliding wind interaction is treated as an archimedean spiral with an inner boundary. Under the assumptions of the model, the major findings are as follows. (a) The redistribution of the WR wind as a result of the wind collision is not flux conservative but typically produces an excess of line emission; however, this excess is modest at around the 10% level. (b) Deviations from a flat-top profile shape for a spherical wind are greatest for viewing inclinations that are more nearly face-on to the orbital plane. At intermediate viewing inclinations, profiles display only mild deviations from a flat-top shape. (c) The profile shape can be used to constrain the colliding wind bow shock opening angle. (d) Structure in the line profile tends to be suppressed in binaries of shorter periods. (e) Obtaining data for multiple forbidden lines is important since different lines probe different characteristic radial scales. Our models are discussed in relation to ISO data for WR 147 and gamma Vel (WR11). The lines for WR 147 are probably not accurate enough to draw firm conclusions. For gamma Vel, individual line morphologies are broadly reproducible but not simultaneously so for the claimed wind and orbital parameters. Overall, the effort demonstrates how lines that are sensitive to the large-scale wind can help to deduce binary system properties and provide new tests of numerical simulations.Comment: to appear in MNRA