Health information seeking in the digital age: An analysis of health information seeking behavior among US adults

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive information for participants in the Health Information National Trend Survey (HINTS) 4

		Cycle 1	Cycle 2	Cycle 3	Cycle 4
Gender
Male	n	1,552	1,390	1,197	1,424
	%	39.2	38.3	37.6	38.7
Female	n	2,304	2,172	1,906	2,184
	%	58.2	59.8	59.8	59.4
White
Not white	n	878	799	729	841
	%	22.2	22.0	22.9	22.9
White	n	2,843	2,604	2,162	2,510
	%	71.8	71.7	67.9	68.3
Black
Not black	n	3,064	2,747	2,306	2,676
	%	77.4	75.7	72.4	72.8
Black	n	657	656	585	675
	%	16.6	18.1	18.4	18.4
Hispanic
Not hispanic	n	3,322	2,768	2,301	2,763
	%	83.9	76.3	72.2	75.1
Hispanic	n	461	511	511	540
	%	11.6	14.1	16.0	14.7
Education
Less than a high school diploma	n	391	329	297	308
	%	9.9	9.1	9.3	8.4
High school diploma	n	785	775	699	670
	%	19.8	21.3	21.9	18.2
Some college experience	n	1,167	1,057	933	1,090
	%	29.5	29.1	29.3	29.6
College graduate	n	1,531	1,380	1,167	1,458
	%	38.7	38	36.6	39.7
Income
$0 to $19,999	n	896	837	763	844
	%	22.6	23.1	24	23
$20,000 to $74,999	n	1,863	1,631	1,382	1,676
	%	47.1	44.9	43.4	45.6
$75,000 or more	n	1,114	1,043	882	1,102
	%	28.1	28.7	27.7	26.3
Health condition
No cancer	n	3,382	3,135	2,676	3,106
	%	85.4	86.4	84	84.5
Cancer	n	563	464	459	542
	%	14.2	12.8	14.4	14.7
Family history of cancer
No family history of cancer	n	928	870	761	909
	%	23.4	24	23.9	24.7
Family history of cancer	n	2,424	2,412	2,012	2,425
	%	61.2	66.4	63.2	66
Internet skill
No internet skill	n	1,043	909	880	827
	%	26.3	25	27.6	22.5
Internet skill	n	2,914	2,720	2,284	2,802
	%	73.6	74.9	71.7	76.2
Age	M	53.95	53.86	54.68	55.11
	SD	16.55	16.5	16.48	16.37
	Min	18	18	18	18
	Max	99	96	105	98
Health perception	M	3.42	3.35	3.37	3.33
	SD	0.97	0.97	0.96	0.97

Notes: Cycle 1 (2011); Cycle 2 (2012); Cycle 3 (2013); Cycle 4 (2014).

Figure 1. Participants’ report of where they sought information first the most recent time they looked for information about health or medical topics.

Table 2. Multiple logistic regression models assessing trends in the determinants of health information seeking from different sources

	Internet				Healthcare professional				Traditional media				Friends & family
	Cycle 1	Cycle 2	Cycle 3	Cycle 4	Cycle 1	Cycle 2	Cycle 3	Cycle 4	Cycle 1	Cycle 2	Cycle 3	Cycle 4	Cycle 1	Cycle 2	Cycle 3	Cycle 4
Age	0.96 ***	0.97 ***	0.98 ***	0.97 ***	0.97 ***	0.98 ***	0.97 ***	0.97 ***	1.03 ***	1.02 ***	1.01 *	1.02 ***	0.98	1.00	0.98	0.99
White	1.52	1.62	1.55	1.32	1.62	1.55	1.32	1.62	0.62	0.69	0.66	1.87	0.64	0.47	1.30	0.67
Black	0.98	1.03	0.89	0.79	1.03	0.89	0.79	1.03	0.92	0.94	0.69	1.97	0.80	0.60	1.89	0.34 *
Hispanic	0.91	0.76	0.86	0.79	0.76	0.86	0.79	0.76	1.11	1.47	1.29	1.07	0.89	1.23	0.59	0.64
Education Level	1.14	1.29 ***	1.19 *	1.32 ***	1.29 ***	1.19 *	1.32 ***	1.29 ***	1.07	0.94	0.94	1.14	0.87	0.78	0.93	0.61 ***
Gender	1.14	1.21	1.09	1.29 *	1.21	1.09	1.29 *	1.21	1.13	0.88	1.44	0.97	0.64 *	0.77	0.60	1.25
SES	1.06 *	1.07 *	1.13 **	1.09 **	1.07 *	1.13 **	1.09 **	1.07 *	0.93	0.95	0.86 ***	0.85 ***	0.96	0.93	0.92	1.02
Health condition	1.00	0.96	0.84	0.89	0.96	0.84	0.89	0.96	0.79	1.04	1.07	1.12	0.79	0.81	0.43	1.09
Family history of cancer	1.05	1.14	0.81	0.70 *	1.14	0.81	0.70 *	1.14	0.93	0.91	1.12	1.04	1.39	0.75	1.47	1.00
Health perception	1.11	1.07	0.89	1.00	1.07	0.89	1.00	1.07	0.91	0.96	1.01	0.93	0.94	0.91	1.14	1.05
Internet skill	12.31 ***	12.45 ***	23.69 ***	15.02 ***	12.45 ***	23.69 ***	15.02 ***	12.45 ***	0.30 ***	0.34 ***	0.23 ***	0.20 ***	0.29 ***	0.33 ***	0.26 ***	0.30 ***
Constant	0.30	0.17	0.20	0.30	0.17	0.20	0.30	0.17	0.24	0.22	0.43	0.10	0.93	1.26	0.28	0.89
R^2/R^2	0.22	0.23	0.25	0.22	0.23	0.25	0.22	0.23	0.10	0.09	0.13	0.14	0.06	0.08	0.06	0.07
χ^2(df)	χ^2(11) = 594.27***	χ^2(11) = 603.51***	χ^2(11) = 483.59 ***	χ^2(11) = 555.34***	χ^2(11) = 603.51***	χ^2(11) = 483.59 ***	χ^2(11) = 555.34 ***	χ^2(11) = 603.51 ***	χ2(11) = 177.60***	χ^2(11) = 130.15 ***	χ^2(11) = 142.72 ***	χ^2(11) = 178.37 ***	χ^2(11) = 41.20***	χ^2(11) = 55.0***	χ^2(11) = 32.07 ***	χ^2(11) = 48.93 ***

^* Significance level at p < 0.05.

^** Significance level at p < 0.01.

^*** Significance level at p < 0.001.