Kim Dongwook, Yoon Young Ji, Cosenzo Luciana Giorgio, Lee Hee Yun
School of Social Work, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, USA.
School of Social Work, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2024 Oct 28. doi: 10.1007/s40615-024-02207-6.
Unmet medical needs in rural areas are of grave concern in the U.S. With the advent of digital technologies, the Internet has become a critical means for accessing essential health information. However, racial/ethnic minority rural communities experiencing scarcity in healthcare services and access to the Internet are underrepresented in digital health studies. This study examined the association between online health information-seeking behaviors and unmet medical needs in a sample of African/Black American adults living in a rural region of the U.S.
Among a sample of 191 adults, we used descriptive analyses to document the level of unmet medical needs and online health information-seeking behaviors of this population and conducted logistic regressions to test the association between online health information-seeking behaviors and unmet medical needs.
Most participants were older than 50 years old (60.2%), female (68.1%), unemployed (57.6%), and had an annual income of less than $25,000 (60.2%). About 20% of participants experienced unmet medical needs. The mean score of online health information-seeking behaviors was 2.37 (range 0-12). Increasing online health information-seeking behaviors was associated with 5.95 increased odds of experiencing unmet medical needs (OR = 5.95, 95% CI 1.27-27.77).
The finding highlights that it is necessary to develop targeted programs aimed at populations with high unmet medical needs, focusing on providing accessible health information and resources. Further research is warranted to investigate the motivations to engage in online health information-seeking behaviors to inform structural and workforce interventions to address unmet medical needs in this under-resourced region.
美国农村地区未满足的医疗需求备受关注。随着数字技术的出现，互联网已成为获取基本健康信息的关键手段。然而，在数字健康研究中，医疗服务和互联网接入稀缺的农村种族/族裔少数群体代表性不足。本研究调查了居住在美国农村地区的非裔/美国黑人成年人样本中在线健康信息寻求行为与未满足的医疗需求之间的关联。
在191名成年人样本中，我们使用描述性分析记录了该人群未满足的医疗需求水平和在线健康信息寻求行为，并进行逻辑回归以测试在线健康信息寻求行为与未满足的医疗需求之间的关联。
大多数参与者年龄超过50岁（60.2%），女性（68.1%），失业（57.6%），年收入低于25,000美元（60.2%）。约20%的参与者有未满足的医疗需求。在线健康信息寻求行为的平均得分是2.37（范围0 - 12）。在线健康信息寻求行为增加与未满足医疗需求的几率增加5.95倍相关（OR = 5.95，95% CI 1.27 - 27.77）。
该发现强调有必要针对未满足医疗需求高的人群制定有针对性的项目，重点是提供可获取的健康信息和资源。有必要进一步研究以调查参与在线健康信息寻求行为的动机，为解决这个资源不足地区未满足医疗需求的结构性和劳动力干预提供信息。
