The Prepared Patient: Information Seeking of Online Support Group Members Before Their Medical Appointments

Abstract

The authors examined online support group members' reliance on their Internet community and other online and offline health resources as they prepare for a scheduled medical appointment. Adult members of an online support group (N = 505) with an upcoming medical appointment completed an online questionnaire that included measures of illness perceptions, control preference, trust in the physician, and eHealth literacy; a checklist of actions one could take to acquire health information; and demographic questions. A factor analysis identified 4 types of information seeking: reliance on the online support group, use of other online health resources, use of offline health resources, and personal network contacts. Previsit information seeking on the Internet was extensive and typically augmented with offline information. Use of online health resources was highest among those who believed they had control over their illness, who attributed many symptoms and negative emotions to it, and who were more eHealth literate. Reliance on the online support group was highest among those who believed they had personal control over their illness, expected their condition to persist, and attributed negative emotions to it. Trust in the physician and preferences for involvement in decision making were unrelated to online information seeking. Most respondents intended to ask their physician questions and request clinical resources based on online information.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Jaeho Cho, Elise Armitage, Raj Dhanda, Marko Dragojevic, and Kelly Winchester.

Notes

Note. The highest factor loading for each item is boldface. DS = Daily Strength.

DS = Daily Strength.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

^a Reference category.

^b Because the three Internet use variables were not normally distributed, we dichotomized them to create three binary variables for control purposes. Specifically, the use of Internet from home once a day or less was coded as 0 (n = 117) and more frequent use was coded as 1 (n = 388). For the rating of Internet use at work, respondents were assigned the value of 0 if they used the Internet in their employment every few weeks or less often (n = 299) and 1 if they used the Internet more frequently (i.e., at least 1 or 2 days a week; n = 206). Respondents reporting that they had used the Internet over the past 12 months for health purposes less than daily were assigned the value of 0 (n = 272) and those using the Internet to research health matters at least once a day were assigned the value of 1 (n = 233).