Knowledge, Attitudes, and HIV/AIDS Risk Behaviors of Myanmar Migrant Workers in Thailand GHMJ (Global Health Management Journal) 2022, Vol. 5, No. 1 Indonesian Scholars’ Alliance Open Access Photo Essay POLITEKNIK KESEHATAN KEMENKES PALANGKA RAYA: HEALTH FORUM AND INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR THE NEW NORMAL : Creating a Pleasant Virtual Communication Online Health Information-Seeking Behaviour: Trends, Influencing Factors, eHealth Literacy Skills, Benefits, and Potential Harms Fina Ratih Wira Putri1*, Indri Kusuma Dewi2 1 Poltekkes Kemenkes Palangka Raya 2 Poltekkes Kemenkes Surakarta *Corresponding author’s email: finaratih.apt@poltekkes-palangkaraya.ac.id DOI: 10.35898/ghmj-51592 Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee and the editorial board of the Annual Health Forum and International Seminar of the Politeknik Kesehatan Kemenkes Palangka Raya © Yayasan Aliansi Cendekiawan Indonesia Thailand (Indonesian Scholars’ Alliance). This is an open-access following Creative Commons License Deed - Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) The number of internet users has increased rapidly in line with internet technology developments around the world. The internet’s accessibility allows the wider community to get information about various things quickly and in a variety of ways (Wong and Cheung, 2019). Figure 1. Health-related sites are increasingly in demand https://dx.doi.org/10.35898/ghmj-51592 11 GHMJ (Global Health Management Journal) 2022, Vol. 5, No. 1 Putri & Dewi In past years in the health sector, patients only received health information passively from the treating doctors. The internet provides the opportunity for patients to get information actively from various sources through search engines. Health-related sites are increasingly in demand because patients and their families are increasingly aware of information available on the internet providing many alternatives in dealing with the health problems they face (Barry et al., 2011). Research conducted in the United States found that of the people who owned a gadget, 36% had mHealth app on their smartphone. Of those who had the application, 60% stated that the mHealth application helped in achieving health behaviour targets, 35% stated that application helped solve health problems, and 38% reported that it was useful in improving the quality of discussions with doctors and seeking second opinions (Bhuyan et al., 2016). The use of the internet is related to the communicative health literacy domain; patients have relatively better communication with related doctors to get explanations and information (Xu et al., 2018). Online health information-seeking behaviour (OHISB) correlates with several factors, such as demographic components, cognitive factors, internal factors, and external factors. Based on demographic elements in the last decade, men have been found to be more likely to look for health information online than women. Online health seekers tend to be younger, more educated, earn more, and have high-speed internet access at home and work. Cognitive factors that affect OHISB are perceived benefits, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived behavioral control. Meanwhile, influential internal factors include self-efficacy, experience using the internet, and trust. Both factors have a positive and moderate effect. The external factor that plays the biggest role is the subjective norm. Of the factors mentioned, the one with the largest effect size is the subjective norm, followed by perceived usefulness and attitude (Wang, Xiu, and Shahzad, 2019). Figure 2. Demographic factors for OHISB i.e., men, younger, more educated, earn more, and have high- speed internet access Putri & Dewi GHMJ (Global Health Management Journal) 2022, Vol. 5, No. 1 12 The reasons for OHISB are to gather general information, to be active in personal healthcare, to research treatments or medication options, to self-diagnose, to identify people with similar experiences, and to find a doctor (Kyriacou and Sherratt, 2019). According to the results of a survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) on eHealth, 29% of online health information-seekers used information obtained online to decide whether to see a doctor or come to an appointment at a regular consultation session. (Barry et al., 2011). Figure 3. The general public seeking information for disease identification based on symptoms and expressing doubts about the information, thus seeking a second opinion. Figure 4. People reading health articles on the internet, OHISB need eHealth literacy 13 GHMJ (Global Health Management Journal) 2022, Vol. 5, No. 1 Putri & Dewi eHealth literacy is one of the supporting internal factors for OHISB along with using the internet and trust. According to Valizadeh-Haghi and Rahmatizadeh (2018), eHealth literacy (health literacy) is the ability to search, find, understand, and use health information available from the internet and process it into knowledge to take into consideration in making decisions. In eHealth literacy, there are six supporting components. First, traditional literacy is essential literacy skills such as reading text, understanding written text, speaking, and writing. Second is, information literacy, meaning a person can seek, obtain, and process the information acquired and transform it into knowledge. Third, media literacy as a means of thinking critically about media content and considering issues such as the market, audience relations, and how the media want to convey messages. Fourth, health literacy, which consists of the characteristics of patients who have adequate health literacy skills. This means being able to read and understand follow-up information services received in order to obtain the expected health outcomes. Fifth is computer literacy, which is the ability to operate a computer or smartphone to solve problems. The last supporting component is scientific literacy, which requires one to put forward findings based on measurable and scientific research (Norman and Skinner, 2006). OHISB has both benefits and potential dangers. In terms of advantages, OHISB can promote a better understanding of health information, active patient involvement in health care, and a proactive patient response to health challenges. However, OHISB also raises concerns about potential dangers that may occur such as inaccurate, inadequate, or misleading online information. OHISB could spark the idea of starting an ineffective or potentially dangerous self-medication regimen. Self-diagnosis and self-medication can also be triggered by OHISB. One of the things related to this issue is herbal product use (Iverson, Howard, and Penney, 2008). Research in Iran showed that 54.5% of respondents had low digital health literacy scores. These low scores were found in recognizing the quality of health information circulating on the internet and using this information to make decisions (KHademian, Montazer, and Aslani, 2020). Another study revealed that although respondents did not have sufficient knowledge and skills to assess the quality of digital information, more than half of the respondents not only received information but also shared or recommended it to others (Zhang et al., 2021). Figure. 5 Choosing a website reliable for health information on the internet, requiring literacy skills such as media literacy, scientific literacy, and health literacy Putri & Dewi GHMJ (Global Health Management Journal) 2022, Vol. 5, No. 1 14 Consent The participants have given us consent to use their photos in this study. Conflict of Interest None References Bhuyan, S. S., Lu, N., Chandak, A., Kim, H., Wyant, D., Bhatt, J., … Chang, C. F. (2016). Use Of Mobile Health Applications For Health-Seeking Behavior Among US Adults. Journal Of Medical Systems, 40(6). Https://Doi.Org/10.1007/S10916-016-0492-7 Barry, M. M., Domegan, C., Higgins, O., & Sixsmith, J. (2011). A literature review on health information-seeking behaviour on the web: a health consumer and health professional perspective. Iverson, S. A., Howard, K. B., & Penney, B. K. (2008). Impact Of Internet Use On Health-Related Behaviours And The Patient-Physician Relationship: A Survey-Based Study And Review. Journal Of The American Figure 6. Various information including alternative processing of herbal medicines, such as Moringa leaf tea in the Internet Figure 7. Moringa leaf tea processing method found in the internet https://doi.org/10.1007/S10916-016-0492-7 15 GHMJ (Global Health Management Journal) 2022, Vol. 5, No. 1 Putri & Dewi Osteopathic Association, 108(12), 699–711. Https://Doi.Org/10.7556/Jaoa.2008.108.12.699 Khademian, F., Montazer, M. R. A., & Aslani, A. (2020). Web-Based Health Information Seeking And Ehealth Literacy Among College Students. A Selfreport Study. Investigacion Y Educacion En Enfermeria, 38(1), 2216–0280. Https://Doi.Org/10.17533/UDEA.IEE.V38N1E08 Kyriacou, A., & Sherratt, C. (2019). Online Health Information–Seeking Behavior By Endocrinology Patients. Hormones, 18(4), 495–505. Https://Doi.Org/10.1007/S42000-019-00159-9 Norman, C. D., & Skinner, H. A. (2006). Ehealth Literacy: Essential Skills For Consumer Health In A Networked World. Journal Of Medical Internet Research, 8(2). Https://Doi.Org/10.2196/Jmir.8.2.E9 Valizadeh-Haghi, S., & Rahmatizadeh, S. (2018). Ehealth Literacy And General Interest In Using Online Health Information: A Survey Among Patients With Dental Diseases. Online Journal Of Public Health Informatics, 10(3). Https://Doi.Org/10.5210/Ojphi.V10i3.9487 Wang, J., Xiu, G., & Shahzad, F. (2019). Exploring The Determinants Of Online Health Information-Seeking Behavior Using A Meta-Analytic Approach. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(17). Https://Doi.Org/10.3390/Su11174604 Wong, D. K. K., & Cheung, M. K. (2019). Online Health Information Seeking And Ehealth Literacy Among Patients Attending A Primary Care Clinic In Hong Kong: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Journal Of Medical Internet Research, 21(3). Https://Doi.Org/10.2196/10831 Xu, X. Y., Yee, A., Leung, M., & Chau, P. H. (2018). Health Literacy , Self-Efficacy , And Associated Factors Among Patients With Diabetes, 2(2), 67–77. Https://Doi.Org/10.3928/24748307-20180313-01 Zhang, D., Zhan, W., Zheng, C., Zhang, J., Huang, A., Hu, S., & Ba-Thein, W. (2021). Online Health Information- Seeking Behaviours And Skills Of Chinese College Students. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 736. Https://Doi.Org/10.1186/S12889-021-10801-0 Cite this article as: Putri FRW, Dewi IK. Online Health Information-Seeking Behaviour: Trends, Influencing Factors, eHealth Literacy Skills, Benefits, and Potential Harms. GHMJ (Global Health Management Journal). 2022; 5(1):10-15. doi:10.35898/ghmj-51592 https://doi.org/10.7556/Jaoa.2008.108.12.699 https://doi.org/10.17533/UDEA.IEE.V38N1E08 https://doi.org/10.1007/S42000-019-00159-9 https://doi.org/10.2196/Jmir.8.2.E9 https://doi.org/10.5210/Ojphi.V10i3.9487 https://doi.org/10.3390/Su11174604 https://doi.org/10.2196/10831 https://doi.org/10.1186/S12889-021-10801-0 https://dx.doi.org/10.35898/ghmj-51592