Health information-seeking behaviour on the Internet and health literacy among older Australians

Lam, MK; Lam, LT

Health information-seeking behaviour on the Internet and health literacy among older Australians

Lam, MK

Lam, LT

Permalink

Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Electronic Journal of Health Informatics, 2012, 7 (2)
Issue Date:: 2012-10-26

Open Access

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Open Access

This item is open access.

Adobe PDF

Download Published VersionAdobe PDF (173.6 kB)

View statistics

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Lam, MK https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9451-8203	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Lam, LT https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6183-6854	en_US
dc.date.issued	2012-10-26	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Electronic Journal of Health Informatics, 2012, 7 (2)	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1446-4381	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/114874
dc.description.abstract	Objective: This paper investigates the relationship between health information-seeking behaviour on the Internet and health literacy in the population of older Australians. Methods: Data was obtained from the Adults Literacy and Life Skills (ALLS) Survey conducted in 2006. Health literacy was assessed using a specific scale designed to measure health literacy proficiency. Internet usage for health information seeking purposes was elicited from responses to a direct question. Data were analysed using simple unweighted logistic modelling techniques with stratification by education levels. Results: Older people with medium level of education and had a higher health literacy proficiency were 4 times as likely to be frequent users of the Internet for the purposes of searching for health information (OR=3.7, 95%C.I.=1.3-10.3), and about 3 times as likely to be infrequent users, (OR=2.6, 95%C.I.=1.6-4.4) when compared to non-users. For higher education levels, only infrequent usage was significantly associated with health literacy. No relationships were found for lower education levels. It is important that health-related information for older people is offered according to their comprehensive ability. Conclusions: The results obtained suggest that there is a significant interaction effect between health information-seeking behaviour on the Internet and education levels, on health literacy. For those who had attained a post-secondary education level, there were significant associations between the exposure and outcome variables in a progressive manner with the strength of associations increasing from infrequent users to frequent users. This suggested a dose-response relationship between exposure and outcome.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Electronic Journal of Health Informatics	en_US
dc.title	Health information-seeking behaviour on the Internet and health literacy among older Australians	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	7	en_US
utslib.for	0806 Information Systems	en_US
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services	en_US
utslib.for	0807 Library and Information Studies	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/IMPACCT
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	7	en_US

Abstract:

Objective: This paper investigates the relationship between health information-seeking behaviour on the Internet and health literacy in the population of older Australians. Methods: Data was obtained from the Adults Literacy and Life Skills (ALLS) Survey conducted in 2006. Health literacy was assessed using a specific scale designed to measure health literacy proficiency. Internet usage for health information seeking purposes was elicited from responses to a direct question. Data were analysed using simple unweighted logistic modelling techniques with stratification by education levels. Results: Older people with medium level of education and had a higher health literacy proficiency were 4 times as likely to be frequent users of the Internet for the purposes of searching for health information (OR=3.7, 95%C.I.=1.3-10.3), and about 3 times as likely to be infrequent users, (OR=2.6, 95%C.I.=1.6-4.4) when compared to non-users. For higher education levels, only infrequent usage was significantly associated with health literacy. No relationships were found for lower education levels. It is important that health-related information for older people is offered according to their comprehensive ability. Conclusions: The results obtained suggest that there is a significant interaction effect between health information-seeking behaviour on the Internet and education levels, on health literacy. For those who had attained a post-secondary education level, there were significant associations between the exposure and outcome variables in a progressive manner with the strength of associations increasing from infrequent users to frequent users. This suggested a dose-response relationship between exposure and outcome.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/114874