Investigating health information behavior of patients with chronic illness using social networking sites: A health belief model approach

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the health information seeking and sharing behavior of patients with chronic illnesses and to assess the role of health belief model (HBM) and digital health literacy (DHL). A quantitative, cross-sectional study was undertaken comprising 450 respondents recruited from Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH), Bahawalpur Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology (BINO), and Shahida Islam Teaching Hospital (SITH), Pakistan. The data were collected using a questionnaire. The results revealed that the most commonly used SNSs for health information were YouTube and Facebook. In addition, the respondents presented a high level of perceived severity and perceived susceptibility, an increased perception of benefits, and a strong intention to seek and share health information via SNSs. Respondents scored moderately on perceived barriers and low on digital health literacy, which implies that they found it challenging to critically appraise online resources. The results have several implications for healthcare organizations, which can develop strategies to increase digital health literacy among patients. Besides, such institutions can benefit from using social media to communicate health information, ensuring that such posts are evidence-based. At the same time, medical libraries should be considered in developing such interventions to increase patients’ digital health literacy. Significance of such studies stems in its contribution in literature on digital health communication by providing insight examining the impact of DHL in seeking and sharing behavior of health information. The study also provides empirical evidence from Pakistan, where the potential impact of social networking sites on health information has been insufficiently explored.