Thandi Amrit, Chowdhury Mohammad Z I, Chowdhury Nashit, Turin Tanvir C
University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
J Prim Care Community Health. 2024 Jan-Dec;15:21501319241277576. doi: 10.1177/21501319241277576.
Health Information Seeking Behavior (HISB) refers to the behavior and strategies used to attain, clarify, or confirm health information. The uptake of health information depends on system-level and individual-level factors. The purpose of the present study is to understand the sources from which Punjabi elders obtain COVID-19 vaccine-related information and their information seeking behavior. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 391 Punjabi elders aged 50+ years in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Ontario. The survey questions included the need for COVID-19 vaccine information, the type of information sought, sources of information, and barriers to seeking information. Descriptive analysis was conducted using frequencies and percentages, and logistic regression was performed to understand the associations between participants' sociodemographic characteristics and HISB. The results suggested that Punjabi elders are more likely to use informal sources and less likely to seek information from health professionals and government health and wellness websites. The results also suggested that most participants do not cross-check their information with other sources and are more likely to cross-check the information with family/friends, compared to credible care providers, across all demographics. Ultimately, there may be a need for stakeholders to collaborate to regulate the accuracy and type of health-information that is disseminated through media, and to tailor health communication to the health information seeking behavior of this population.
健康信息寻求行为（HISB）是指用于获取、澄清或确认健康信息的行为和策略。健康信息的获取取决于系统层面和个人层面的因素。本研究的目的是了解旁遮普族老年人获取新冠疫苗相关信息的来源及其信息寻求行为。在安大略省大多伦多地区（GTA）对391名年龄在50岁及以上的旁遮普族老年人进行了横断面调查。调查问题包括对新冠疫苗信息的需求、所寻求信息的类型、信息来源以及寻求信息的障碍。使用频率和百分比进行描述性分析，并进行逻辑回归以了解参与者的社会人口统计学特征与健康信息寻求行为之间的关联。结果表明，旁遮普族老年人更有可能使用非正式来源，而从健康专业人员以及政府健康与保健网站获取信息的可能性较小。结果还表明，大多数参与者不会与其他来源交叉核对信息，并且在所有人口统计学特征中，与可靠的护理提供者相比，他们更有可能与家人/朋友交叉核对信息。最终，利益相关者可能需要合作来规范通过媒体传播的健康信息的准确性和类型，并根据该人群的健康信息寻求行为调整健康传播方式。
