Gender Differences in The Use of Internet for Health Information Search

Öz

Demand for health related information is expanding. People seeking health information have many options today. Internet is becoming an important source of information for health related activities in recent years because of its convenience and large capacity. The use of Internet in Turkey increased dramatically from 13 percent users in 2004 to 30 percent in 2009. National survey conducted by the Turkish Statistical Institute in 2007 shows that 37 percent of Turkish people used the Internet for online health related information. Once consumers enter the domain of electronic health care information, the issue becomes determining the quality of the available information. How do consumers perceive the quality of online health information? This study addresses gender differences in Turkish consumer’s perceptions regarding the quality of electronic health information on web sites. Research results showed that males and females differ by their e-health information quality perceptions. Main discriminating issues of males and females are related to helpfulness and safety of the online health information. Females are found to have higher e-health information quality perception than males

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Electronic Health Information, Internet, Gender, Discriminant Analysis, Turkey

Kaynakça

1. Ahmed, Z. U. (1991) “Marketing Your Community: Correc- ting a Negative Image” The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Ad- ministration Quarterly, 31(4): 24–27.
2. Akerkar, S. M., and Bichile, L. S. (2004) “Health Information on the Internet: Patient Empowerment or Patient Deceit?” Indian Journal of Medical Sciences, 58(8): 321–326.
3. Anderson J. G., Rainey, M. R., and Eysenbach, G. (2003) “The Impact of Cyberhealthcare on the Physician–patient Relationship” Journal of Medical Systems, 27(1): 67–84.
4. Andreassen, H. K., Bujnowska-Fedak, M. M., Chronaki, C. E., Dumitru, R. C., Pudule, I., Santana, S., Voss, H., and Wynn, R. (2007):“European Citizens’ Use of E-health Ser- vices: A Study of Seven Countries” BMC Public Health, 7(53): 1-7.
5. Baker L, Wagner, T.H., Singer, S. and Bundorf, M.K. (2003) “Use of the Internet and E-mail for Health Care Informa- tion” The Journal of the American Marketing Association, 289:2400-6.
6. Barnes, M. D., Penrod, C., Neiger, B. L., MerrilL, R. M., Thackeray, R., Eggett, D. L., and Thomas, E. (2003) “Me- asuring the Relevance of Evaluation Criteria Among He- alth Information Seekers on the Internet” Journal of Health Psychology, 8(1): 71-82.
7. Benigeri, M. and Pluye, P. (2003) “Shortcomings of Health In- formation on the Internet” Health Promotion International, 18(4): 381-386.
8. Bernhardt, J. M., Lariscy, R. A. W., Parrott, R. L., Silk, K. J. and Felter, E. M. (2002) “Perceived Barriers to Internet-Ba- sed Communication on Human Genetics” Journal of Health Communication, 7: 325-340.

9. Bodie, G. D. and Dutta, M. J. (2008) “Understanding Health Literacy for Strategic Health Marketing: Ehealth Literacy, Health Disparities, and the Digital Divide” Health Marke- ting Quarterly, 25(1): 175-203.
10. Bodkin, C., and Miaoulis, G. (2007) “E-Health Information Quality and Ethics Issues: An Exploratory Study of Consu- mer Perceptions” International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 1(1): 27- 42.
11. Chandra, A., Sikula, A. JR., and Paul, D. P. (2004) “III. Di- gital Marketing: Ethical Considerations in the Marketing of E-Health Products” International Journal of Medical Marke- ting, 4(2): 110-118.
12. Cline, R. J. and Haynes, K. M. (2001) “Consumer Health Information Seeking on the Internet: The state of the art”, Health Education Research, 16, 671–692.
13. Coile, R. C. Jr. (2000) “E-Health: Reinventing Healthcare in the Information Age” Journal of Healthcare Management, 45(3): 206–210.
14. Cudore, B. A., and Bobrowski, P. E. (2003) “How Effective Are Healthcare Web Sites for Marketers?” Marketing Health Services, 23(3): 37-41.
15. Dickerson, S., Reinhart, A. M., Feeley, T. H., Bidani, R., Rich, E., Garg, V. K., and Hershey, C. O. (2004) “Patient In- ternet Use for Health Information at Three Urban Primary Care Clinics” Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 11(6): 499–504.
16. Dolan, G., Iredale, R., Williams, R., and Ameen, J. (2004) “Consumer Use of the Internet for Health Information: A Survey of Primary Care Patients” International Journal of Consumer Studies, 28(2): 147–153.
17. Doupi, P., and Van Der Lei, J. (1999) “R-X Medication Infor- mation for the Public and the www: Quality Issues” Medical Informatics and the Internet in Medicine, 24: 171–179.
18. Dumitru, R. C., Bürkle, T., Potapov, S., Lausen, B., Wiese, B., and Prokosch, H. U. (2007) “Use and Perception of Inter- net for Health Related Purposes in Germany: Results of A National Survey” International Journal of Public Health, 52: 275–285.
19. Erdem, S. A. (2008) “Healthcare Marketing on the Web: Mo- ving Forward Toward More Interactive Practices” Health Marketing Quarterly, 24(1/2): 35 -49.
20. Eysenbach, G., and Diepgen, T. L. (1998) “Towards Quality Management of Medical Information on the Internet: Eva- luation, Labelling, and Filtering of Information” British Me- dical Journal, 317: 1496–1500.
21. Eysenbach, G., and Diepgen, T. L. (1999) “Patients Looking for Information on the Internet and Seeking Tele Advice: Motivation, Expectations, and Misconceptions As Expressed in E-Mails Sent To Physicians” Archives of Dermatology, 135: 151–156.
22. Gagliardi, A., and Jadad, A. R. (2002) “Examination of Instru- ments Used to Rate Quality of Health Information on the Internet: Chronicle of A Voyage With An Unclear Destina- tion” British Medical Journal, 324: 569–573.
23. Goetzinger, L., Park, J. Lee, Y.J., and Widdows, R. (2007) “Va- lue-Driven Consumer E-Health Information Search Beha- vior” International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 1(2), 128-142.
24. Gruca, T. S. and Wakefield, D. S. (2004) “Hospital Web Sites: Promise and Progress” Journal of Business Research, 57(9): 1021-1025.
25. Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L. and Black, W. C. (1998) Multivariate Data Analysis, Fifth Edition, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Prentice Hall.
26. Hellawell, G. O., Turner, K. J., Le Monnier, K. J., and Brews- ter, S. F. (2000) “Urology and the Internet: An Evaluation of Internet Use by Urology Patients and of Information Avai- lable on Urological Topics” BJU International, 86: 191–194.
27. Hesse, B.W. (2005) “Trust and Sources of Health Information” Archives of International Medicine,165: 2618-24.
28. Houston, T.K., Allison, J.J. (2002) “Users of Internet Health Information: Differences by Health Status” Journal of Medi- cal Internet Research, 165:2618-24.
29. Hussain, N, Agyeman, A, and Das Carlo, M. (2004) “Access, Attitudes, and Concerns of Physicians and Patients toward E-Mail Use in Health-Related Communication” Texas Me- dicine, 100(3): 50–57.
30. Impicciatore, P., Pandolfini, C., Casella, N., and Bonati, M. (1997) “Reliability of Health Information for the Public on the World Wide Web: Systematic Survey of Advice on Ma- naging Fever in Children at Home” British Medical Journal, 314: 1875–1879.
31. Khechine, H, Pascot, D, and Prémont, P. (2004a) “Details about the Use of the Internet for Health Information” Infor- mation Systems in an E-World, September: 102–116.
32. Khechine, H., Pascot, D., and Prémont, P. (2004b) “Informa- tion from the Internet and Health” International Journal of Computers, Systems and Signals; 5(1): 58–66.
33. Khechine, H., Pascot, D., and Prémont, P. (2008) “Use of Health-Related Information from the Internet by English- Speaking Patients” Health Informatics Journal, 14(1): 17–28.
34. Kim, P., Eng, T. R., Deering, M. J., and Maxfield, A. (1999) “Published Criteria for Evaluating Health Related Web Si- tes: Review” British Medical Journal, 318: 647–649.
35. Latthe, M., Latthe, P. M., and Charlton, R. (2000) “Quality of Information on Emergency Contraception on the Internet” British Journal of Family Planning, 26: 39–43.
36. Lueg, J. E., Moore, R. S., and Warkentin, M. (2003) “Pati- ent Health Information Search: An Exploratory Model of Web-Based Search Behavior” Journal of End User Compu- ting, 15(4): 49–61.
37. Maloney, S., Ilic, D., and Green, S. (2005) “Accessibility, Na- ture and Quality of Health Information on the Internet: A Survey on Osteoarthritis” Rheumatology; 44(33): 382-385.
38. Morahan-Martin, J. M. (2004) “How Internet Users Find, Evaluate, and Use Online Health Information: A Cross- Cultural Review” Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 7(5): 497– 510.
39. Mukherjee, A., and Mcginnis, J. (2007) “E-Healthcare: An Analysis of Key Themes in Research” International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 1(4): 349- 363.
40. Nustad, J., Adams, T., and Moore, M. (2008) “Health Infor- mation Sources Accessed by College Females: Differences Between Body-Image Distorted and Non-Body-Image Dis- torted” Health Marketing Quarterly, 25(3): 241-253.
41. Office of National Statistics. (2003) “Family Spending: A Re- port on the 2001–2002 Expenditure and Food Survey”, London: Office for National Statistics.
42. Paris, J., and FerrantI, J. (2001) “The Changing Fact of Medi- cine: Health Care on the Internet” Journal of Perinatology, 21(1): 34-39.
43. Ratchford, B. R., Lee, M., and Talukdar, D. (2003) “The Im- pact of the Internet on Information Search for Automobi- les” Journal of Marketing Research, 40(2): 193-209.
44. Risk, A., and Petersen, C. (2002) “Health Information on the Internet: Quality Issues and International Initiatives” Jour- nal of the American Medical Association, 287: 2713–2715.
45. Rohm, B. W. T., and Rohm, C. E. T. Jr. (2002) “A Vision of the E-Healthcare Era” International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 4(1-2): 87-92.
46. Sandvik, H. (1999) “Health Information and Interaction on the Internet: A Survey of Female Urinary Incontinence” Bri- tish Medical Journal, 319: 29–32.
47. Shuyler, K. S., and Knight, K. M. (2003) “What Are Patients Seeking When They Turn to the Internet? Qualitative Con- tent Analysis of Questions Asked by Visitors To An Ortho- paedics Web Site” Journal of Medical Internet Research, 5(4): 24-34.
48. TUIK, Turkish Statistical Institute News Bulletin, (2009) “Ho- usehold Information Technology Usage Study Results”.
49. TUIK, Turkish Statistical Institute News Bulletin, (2007) “Ho- usehold Information Technology Usage Study Results”.
50. Wagner, T. H., Hu, T. W., Hibbard, J. H. (2001) “The De- mand for Consumer Health Information” Journal of Health Economics, 20: 1059-1075.
51. Williams, P., Huntington, P., and Nicholas, D. (2003) “Health Information on the Internet: A Qualitative Study of Nhs Direct Online Users” Aslib Proceedings, 55(5/6): 304-312.
52. Wilson, P., and Risk, A. (2002) “How To Find the Good and Avoid the Bad Or Ugly: A Short Guide to Tools for Rating Quality of Health Information on the Internet” British Me- dical Journal, 324(7337): 598-602.
53. Winker, M. A., Flanagin, A., Chi-Lum, B., White, J., And- rews, K., and Kennett, R. L. (2000) “Guidelines for Medi- cal and Health Information Sites on the Internet: Principles Governing AMA Web Sites” Journal of the American Medical Association, 283: 1600–1606.
54. Ybarra, M. L., and Suman, M. (2006) “Help Seeking Behavior and the Internet: A National Survey” International Journal of Medical Informatics, 75: 29-41.