School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Research Center for Rural Health Service, Key Research Institute of Humanities & Social Sciences of Hubei Provincial Department of Education, Wuhan, China.
J Med Internet Res. 2021 Dec 2;23(12):e30855. doi: 10.2196/30855.
The internet is one of the most popular health information resources, and the Chinese constitute one-fifth of the online users worldwide. As internet penetration continues to rise, more details on the Chinese population seeking online health information need to be known based on the current literature.
This study aims to explore the sociodemographic differences in online health information seeking (OHIS), including the frequency of OHIS and the types of online health information sought among the general Chinese population in mainland China.
A cross-sectional study for assessing the residents' health care needs with self-administered questionnaires was implemented in 4 counties and districts in China from July 2018 to August 2018. Pearson's chi-square test was used to identify the sociodemographic differences between infrequent and frequent online health information seekers. We also performed binary logistic regression for the 4 types of online health information as the dependent variables and the sociodemographic factors as the independent variables.
Compared with infrequent online health information seekers, frequent seekers were more likely to be female (infrequent: 1654/3318; 49.85%; frequent: 1015/1831, 55.43%), older (over 60 years old; infrequent: 454/3318, 13.68%; frequent: 282/1831, 15.40%), married (infrequent: 2649/3318, 79.84%; frequent: 1537/1831, 83.94%), and better educated (bachelor's or above; infrequent: 834/3318, 25.14%; frequent: 566/1831, 30.91%). They were also more likely to earn a higher income (over RMB ¥50k [RMB ¥1=US $0.15641]; infrequent: 1139/3318, 34.33%; frequent: 710/1831, 34.78%), have commercial health insurance (infrequent: 628/3318, 18.93%; frequent: 470/1831, 25.67%), and have reported illness in the past 12 months (infrequent: 659/3318, 19.86%; frequent: 415/1831, 22.67%). Among the 4 health information types, health science popularization was the most searched for information by Chinese online health information seekers (3654/5149, 70.79%), followed by healthy behaviors (3567/5149, 69.28%), traditional Chinese medicine (1931/5149, 37.50%), and medical concerns (1703/5149, 33.07%). The binary logistic regression models showed that males were less likely to seek information on healthy behaviors (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.69, 95% CI 0.61-0.78) and traditional Chinese medicine (AOR 0.64, 95% CI 0.57-0.73), and respondents who had at least 1 chronic disease were more likely to seek information on medical concerns (AOR 1.27, 95% CI 1.07-1.51) and traditional Chinese medicine (AOR 1.26, 95% CI 1.06-1.49).
Sociodemographic factors were associated with the frequency of OHIS and types of information sought among the general Chinese population. The results remind providers of online health information to consider the needs of specific population groups when tailoring and presenting health information to the target population.
互联网是最受欢迎的健康信息资源之一，而中国人占全球在线用户的五分之一。随着互联网普及率的持续上升，我们需要更多基于现有文献的关于中国民众在线寻求健康信息的细节信息。
本研究旨在探索中国民众在线健康信息寻求（OHIS）的社会人口学差异，包括中国大陆一般人群在线健康信息寻求的频率和所寻求的在线健康信息类型。
2018 年 7 月至 8 月，在中国的 4 个县和区进行了一项横断面研究，以评估居民的医疗保健需求，并采用自填式问卷。采用皮尔逊卡方检验来识别频繁和不频繁在线健康信息寻求者之间的社会人口学差异。我们还对 4 种类型的在线健康信息作为因变量，社会人口学因素作为自变量进行二项逻辑回归。
与不频繁的在线健康信息寻求者相比，频繁的在线健康信息寻求者更可能是女性（不频繁：3318 人中有 1654 人，占 49.85%；频繁：1831 人中有 1015 人，占 55.43%）、年龄较大（60 岁以上；不频繁：3318 人中有 454 人，占 13.68%；频繁：1831 人中有 282 人，占 15.40%）、已婚（不频繁：3318 人中有 2649 人，占 79.84%；频繁：1831 人中有 1537 人，占 83.94%）和受教育程度较高（本科及以上；不频繁：3318 人中有 834 人，占 25.14%；频繁：1831 人中有 566 人，占 30.91%）。他们也更有可能收入较高（超过人民币 50k [人民币 1=美元 0.15641]；不频繁：3318 人中有 1139 人，占 34.33%；频繁：1831 人中有 710 人，占 34.78%）、有商业健康保险（不频繁：3318 人中有 628 人，占 18.93%；频繁：1831 人中有 470 人，占 25.67%），并在过去 12 个月内报告过疾病（不频繁：3318 人中有 659 人，占 19.86%；频繁：1831 人中有 415 人，占 22.67%）。在这 4 种健康信息类型中，健康科学普及是中国在线健康信息寻求者最常搜索的信息（3654/5149，占 70.79%），其次是健康行为（3567/5149，占 69.28%）、中医（1931/5149，占 37.50%）和医疗问题（1703/5149，占 33.07%）。二项逻辑回归模型显示，男性不太可能寻求健康行为（调整后的优势比 [AOR] 0.69，95%置信区间 [CI] 0.61-0.78）和中医（AOR 0.64，95% CI 0.57-0.73）的信息，至少有 1 种慢性病的受访者更有可能寻求医疗问题（AOR 1.27，95% CI 1.07-1.51）和中医（AOR 1.26，95% CI 1.06-1.49）的信息。
社会人口学因素与中国一般人群在线健康信息寻求的频率和所寻求的信息类型有关。结果提醒在线健康信息提供者在针对目标人群定制和呈现健康信息时，要考虑特定人群的需求。
