Everyday health communication experiences of college students.

OBJECTIVE

The authors examined college students' day-to-day health communication experiences.

PARTICIPANTS

A convenience sample of 109 midwestern university students participated in the study.

METHODS

The participants completed health communication diaries for 2 weeks, generating 2,185 records. Frequent health topics included nutrition and diet, minor health concerns, risky health practices, and body fitness.

RESULTS

Approximately 27% of health communication experiences involved the proactive seeking of health-related information or advice. Interpersonal venues (face-to-face, telephone, and e-mail) were evident in about 75% of the records, which were dominated by exchanges with friends and family members. The authors found modest interactions of topic, channel, and purpose.

CONCLUSIONS

Congruent with the uses and gratifications theory, the authors found that satisfaction with and perceived impact of health communication experiences varied by topic, channel, relationship, and purpose.