Socioeconomic and Geographic Disparities in Health Information Seeking and Internet Use in Puerto Rico

被引:23
作者
Rutten, Lila J. Finney [1 ]
Hesse, Bradford W. [2 ]
Moser, Richard P. [3 ]
Martinez, Ana Patricia Ortiz [4 ]
Kornfeld, Julie [5 ]
Vanderpool, Robin C. [6 ]
Byrne, Margaret
Luna, Guillermo Tortolero [4 ]
机构
[1] NCI, Clin Monitoring Res Program, SAIC Frederick Inc, Frederick, MD 21702 USA
[2] NCI, Behav Res Program, Hlth Commun & Informat Res Branch, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA
[3] NCI, Behav Res Program, Sci Res & Technol Branch, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA
[4] Univ Puerto Rico, Comprehens Canc Ctr, San Juan, PR 00936 USA
[5] Univ Miami, Miller Sch Med, Dept Epidemiol & Publ Hlth, Miami, FL 33136 USA
[6] Univ Kentucky, Coll Publ Hlth, Lexington, KY USA
基金
美国国家卫生研究院;
关键词
Health information seeking; cancer information seeking; Internet use; disparities; special populations; geographic trends; NON-HISPANIC BLACKS; UNITED-STATES; MORTALITY-RATES; CARE PROVIDERS; CANCER; WHITES; COMMUNICATION; KNOWLEDGE; SURVIVAL; TRUST;
D O I
10.2196/jmir.2007
中图分类号
R19 [保健组织与事业(卫生事业管理)];
学科分类号
摘要
Background: Geographically isolated Hispanic populations, such as those living in Puerto Rico, may face unique barriers to health information access. However, little is known about health information access and health information-seeking behaviors of this population. Objective: To examine differences in health and cancer information seeking among survey respondents who ever used the Internet and those who did not, and to explore sociodemographic and geographic trends. Methods: Data for our analyses were from a special implementation of the Health Information National Trends Survey conducted in Puerto Rico in 2009. We collected data through random digit dialing, computer-assisted telephone interviews (N = 639). The sample was drawn from the eight geographic regions of the Puerto Rico Department of Health. To account for complex survey design and perform weighted analyses to obtain population estimates, we analyzed the data using SUDAAN. Frequencies, cross-tabulation with chi-square, and logistic regression analyses were conducted. Geographic information system maps were developed to examine geographic distributions of Internet use and information seeking. Results: Of 639 participants, 142 (weighted percentage 32.7%) indicated that they had ever gone online to access the Internet or World Wide Web; this proportion was substantially lower than that of US mainland Hispanics who reported using the Internet (49%). While 101 of 142 (weighted percentage 59.6%) respondents who used the Web had ever sought health information, only 118 of 497 (weighted percentage 20.0%) of those who did not use the Web had sought health information. The pattern was similar for cancer information: 76 of 142 respondents (weighted percentage 47.2%) who used the Web had ever sought cancer information compared with 105 of 497 (weighted percentage 18.8%) of those who had not used the Web. These results were slightly lower but generally consistent with US mainland Hispanics' health (50.9%) and cancer (26.4%) information seeking. Results of separate logistic regression models controlling for sociodemographic characteristics demonstrated that, compared with individuals who did not seek health or cancer information, those who did were over 5 times as likely to have used the Internet (odds ratio 5.11, P < .001). Those who sought cancer information were over twice as likely to have used the Internet (odds ratio 2.5, P < .05). The frequency of Internet use and health and cancer information seeking was higher in the San Juan metro region than in more rural areas. Conclusions: Our results contribute to the evidence base for health and cancer communication planning for Puerto Rico, and suggest that health education and outreach efforts should explore the use of available and trusted methods of dissemination such as radio and television, as well as community-based health care providers and organizations, to supplement and encourage use of the Internet as a source of health information.
引用
收藏
页码:199 / 210
页数:12
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