Examining the relationship between Internet health information seeking and patient-centered communication in China: taking into account self-efficacy in medical decision-making

Abstract

The tension between patients and doctors has become a social issue in China. Promoting patient-centered communication (PCC) may be one way to mitigate this problem. Internet health information seeking (IHIS) has become increasingly popular among Chinese people. However, the relationship between IHIS and PCC has not been adequately examined, and the mechanism underlying it remains unclear. In this study, the results of an online survey conducted in China (N = 423) showed that one-way IHIS was not significantly associated with PCC either directly or indirectly. In contrast, two-way IHIS had a positive and direct relationship with PCC. Moreover, the indirect relationship between two-way IHIS and PCC was mediated by self-efficacy in decision-making. The implications of these findings for IHIS and PCC, particularly in the context of China, are discussed.

Keywords:

• Internet health information seeking
• self-efficacy
• medical decision-making
• patient-centered communication
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shaohai Jiang

Shaohai Jiang is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communications and New Media at National University of Singapore. His research interests include patient–provider communication, health information seeking, e-Health and mHealth, and health campaigns.

Jiaying Liu

Jiaying Liu is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Georgia. Her primary research interest is at the intersection of health communication, social psychology, message effects, and computational social science methods.