Hong Ziying, Deng Zhaohua, Evans Richard, Wu Haiyan
School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
School of Journalism and Information Communication, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
J Med Internet Res. 2020 Apr 16;22(4):e13071. doi: 10.2196/13071.
Since the turn of this century, the internet has become an invaluable resource for people seeking health information and answers to health-related queries. Health question and answer websites have grown in popularity in recent years as a means for patients to obtain health information from medical professionals. For patients suffering from chronic illnesses, it is vital that health care providers become better acquainted with patients' information needs and learn how they express them in text format.
The aims of this study were to: (1) explore whether patients can accurately and adequately express their information needs on health question and answer websites, (2) identify what types of problems are of most concern to those suffering from chronic illnesses, and (3) determine the relationship between question characteristics and the number of answers received.
Questions were collected from a leading Chinese health question and answer website called "All questions will be answered" in January 2018. We focused on questions relating to diabetes and hepatitis, including those that were free and those that were financially rewarded. Content analysis was completed on a total of 7068 (diabetes) and 6685 (hepatitis) textual questions. Correlations between the characteristics of questions (number of words per question, value of reward) and the number of answers received were evaluated using linear regression analysis.
The majority of patients are able to accurately express their problem in text format, while some patients may require minor social support. The questions posted were related to three main topics: (1) prevention and examination, (2) diagnosis, and (3) treatment. Patients with diabetes were most concerned with the treatment received, whereas patients with hepatitis focused on the diagnosis results. The number of words per question and the value of the reward were negatively correlated with the number of answers. The number of words per question and the value of the reward were negatively correlated with the number of answers.
This study provides valuable insights into the ability of patients suffering from chronic illnesses to make an understandable request on health question and answer websites. Health topics relating to diabetes and hepatitis were classified to address the health information needs of chronically ill patients. Furthermore, identification of the factors affecting the number of answers received per question can help users of these websites to better frame their questions to obtain more valuable answers.
自本世纪初以来，互联网已成为人们寻求健康信息和解答与健康相关问题的宝贵资源。近年来，健康问答网站越来越受欢迎，成为患者从医学专业人员那里获取健康信息的一种方式。对于慢性病患者而言，医疗保健提供者更好地了解患者的信息需求并了解他们如何以文本形式表达这些需求至关重要。
本研究的目的是：（1）探讨患者能否在健康问答网站上准确、充分地表达他们的信息需求；（2）确定慢性病患者最关注的问题类型；（3）确定问题特征与收到的答案数量之间的关系。
2018年1月从中国一个名为“有问必答”的领先健康问答网站收集问题。我们关注与糖尿病和肝炎相关的问题，包括免费问题和有悬赏的问题。对总共7068个（糖尿病）和6685个（肝炎）文本问题进行了内容分析。使用线性回归分析评估问题特征（每个问题的字数、悬赏金额）与收到的答案数量之间的相关性。
大多数患者能够以文本形式准确表达他们的问题，而一些患者可能需要少量的社会支持。发布的问题与三个主要主题相关：（1）预防和检查；（2）诊断；（3）治疗。糖尿病患者最关心接受的治疗，而肝炎患者则关注诊断结果。每个问题的字数和悬赏金额与答案数量呈负相关。
本研究为慢性病患者在健康问答网站上提出可理解请求的能力提供了有价值的见解。对与糖尿病和肝炎相关的健康主题进行了分类，以满足慢性病患者的健康信息需求。此外，识别影响每个问题收到的答案数量的因素可以帮助这些网站的用户更好地组织他们的问题，以获得更有价值的答案。
