Interventions to Assist Health Consumers to Find Reliable Online Health Information: A Comprehensive Review

PLOS ONE, Dec 2019

Background Health information on the Internet is ubiquitous, and its use by health consumers prevalent. Finding and understanding relevant online health information, and determining content reliability, pose real challenges for many health consumers. Purpose To identify the types of interventions that have been implemented to assist health consumers to find reliable online health information, and where possible, describe and compare the types of outcomes studied. Data Sources PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus and Cochrane Library databases; WorldCat and Scirus ‘gray literature’ search engines; and manual review of reference lists of selected publications. Study Selection Publications were selected by firstly screening title, abstract, and then full text. Data Extraction Seven publications met the inclusion criteria, and were summarized in a data extraction form. The form incorporated the PICOS (Population Intervention Comparators Outcomes and Study Design) Model. Two eligible gray literature papers were also reported. Data Synthesis Relevant data from included studies were tabulated to enable descriptive comparison. A brief critique of each study was included in the tables. This review was unable to follow systematic review methods due to the paucity of research and humanistic interventions reported. Limitations While extensive, the gray literature search may have had limited reach in some countries. The paucity of research on this topic limits conclusions that may be drawn. Conclusions The few eligible studies predominantly adopted a didactic approach to assisting health consumers, whereby consumers were either taught how to find credible websites, or how to use the Internet. Common types of outcomes studied include knowledge and skills pertaining to Internet use and searching for reliable health information. These outcomes were predominantly self-assessed by participants. There is potential for further research to explore other avenues for assisting health consumers to find reliable online health information, and to assess outcomes via objective measures.

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Interventions to Assist Health Consumers to Find Reliable Online Health Information: A Comprehensive Review

Emmerton LM (2014) Interventions to Assist Health Consumers to Find Reliable Online Health Information: A Comprehensive Review. PLoS ONE 9(4): e94186. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0094186 Interventions to Assist Health Consumers to Find Reliable Online Health Information: A Comprehensive Review Kenneth Lee 0 Kreshnik Hoti 0 Jeffery D. Hughes 0 Lynne M. Emmerton 0 Laxmaiah Manchikanti, University of Louisville, United States of America 0 School of Pharmacy, Curtin University , Perth, Western Australia , Australia Background: Health information on the Internet is ubiquitous, and its use by health consumers prevalent. Finding and understanding relevant online health information, and determining content reliability, pose real challenges for many health consumers. Purpose: To identify the types of interventions that have been implemented to assist health consumers to find reliable online health information, and where possible, describe and compare the types of outcomes studied. Data Sources: PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus and Cochrane Library databases; WorldCat and Scirus 'gray literature' search engines; and manual review of reference lists of selected publications. Study Selection: Publications were selected by firstly screening title, abstract, and then full text. Data Extraction: Seven publications met the inclusion criteria, and were summarized in a data extraction form. The form incorporated the PICOS (Population Intervention Comparators Outcomes and Study Design) Model. Two eligible gray literature papers were also reported. Data Synthesis: Relevant data from included studies were tabulated to enable descriptive comparison. A brief critique of each study was included in the tables. This review was unable to follow systematic review methods due to the paucity of research and humanistic interventions reported. Limitations: While extensive, the gray literature search may have had limited reach in some countries. The paucity of research on this topic limits conclusions that may be drawn. Conclusions: The few eligible studies predominantly adopted a didactic approach to assisting health consumers, whereby consumers were either taught how to find credible websites, or how to use the Internet. Common types of outcomes studied include knowledge and skills pertaining to Internet use and searching for reliable health information. These outcomes were predominantly self-assessed by participants. There is potential for further research to explore other avenues for assisting health consumers to find reliable online health information, and to assess outcomes via objective measures. - There is a growing body of evidence that health consumers increasingly rely on the Internet for health information [18]. This increase is largely due to 1) the immense abundance of online information [9,10], decision aids [11] and Web 2.0 health applications [10,12,13], 2) the increasing prevalence of chronic disease in society [14], and 3) the pervasiveness and accessibility of Information Technology in our daily lives [15]. While the role of health professionals in advising and assisting health consumers with decision making is undisputed [1,16,17], it is unrealistic, in terms of the health professionals time and ability, to control out-of-consultation behavior of consumers, and to expect consumers to rely entirely on written and verbal information provided by their regular practitioner(s). Indeed, health consumers empowered by information-seeking online may be more engaged in the management of their health conditions, and form more productive relationships with their healthcare practitioners [18]. In order to effectively engage in self-management, health consumers must be able to effectively find, understand and utilize relevant health information [1921]. At the same time, health consumers must also be able to discern reliable from less-reliable information. Collectively, these abilities and skills constitute the definition of an individuals health literacy [1921]. The literature suggests that many health consumers have low levels of health literacy [2126] which hinders their ability to effectively find, understand and use reliable health information to assist them manage their health conditions. As use of the Internet requires technological knowledge and skills [9], finding health information online potentially becomes an even greater burden on consumers with poor computer literacy as well as low levels of health literacy. Rationale and Objectives Given the prevalence of chronic diseases in society and the important role self-management plays in chronic disease management, there appears to be a need for initiatives to assist health consumers to develop their capacity to find reliable health information on the Internet, thereby potentially contributing to improved levels of health literacy. Our comprehensive review follows a systematic review by Car et al. [9] that examined the effects of online health literacy training interventions (...truncated)


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Kenneth Lee, Kreshnik Hoti, Jeffery D. Hughes, Lynne M. Emmerton. Interventions to Assist Health Consumers to Find Reliable Online Health Information: A Comprehensive Review, PLOS ONE, 2014, Volume 9, Issue 4, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094186