Online health information seeking among patients in primary health care settings, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Online health information is one of the resources for patients to know about disease pathophysiology, diagnosis, causes, treatment and when to see the physician. Searching for answers through the Internet for health information has become a feature of many people in our country, many institutions provide health information through their website page. Searching for health information online may be important and positive, such as improving the condition of the patient, self-protection, and contributing to raising health awareness. Some patients trust what they find in these sites without verifying the medical reference. misrepresentation of the condition when searching lead to misunderstanding of the information presented, and presence of a serious medical error on the site, or similar description of the situation can Mislead and increase patient's stress on their health. Objectives: this study aimed to find the prevalence, Determinants, beliefs and identify common topics and websites searched by online health information seekers among patients in primary care settings, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2020. Methods: cross-sectional study with a total number of participants 330 done by using self-administered questionnaire. Result: prevalence of online health information seeking in the current study was 92.2%. Lifestyle 72.4% and acute health conditions 43.4%.were the most common topics searched by patients, The highest positive score of the beliefs items was for the point "I think because it's fast and easy to access". The most common health websites searched by the seekers were as following: Websites recommended by search engines, and websites related to Ministry of Health or universities at 64.6%, and 28.2%. Conclusion: online health information seeking is highly prevalent. Therefore, Physicians, public health professionals, and health care organizations should work together to offer high-quality health information online.