The impact of online information on health-related decisions – a review of findings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15503/emet2024.29.48Keywords:
Online Health Information (OHI), medical decision-making, deprofes- sionalization of medicineAbstract
The amount of medical knowledge on the Internet is growing systematically. There are more and more professional platforms and quasi-professional health portals, per- sonal blogs of individuals experiencing illness (pathographies), and other broadcast- ers who introduce both truthful and false information into circulation. The enormous volume of information, often featuring contradictory opinions, can lead to confusion and a loss of trust in medical professionals and conventional medicine. The existence of vari- ous professional and non-professional, educational and commercial “circles” of medical knowledge fosters a deprofessionalisationu of medicine, which facilitates the spread of false and harmful medical myths. Online content can affect the health-related decisions users make.
In this article, we present the outcomes of review of data from research on the influ- ence of online health information (OHI) on health decisions among the general popula- tion and in specific patient groups. We describe the diversity of OHI across various online platforms and outline the main subpopulations of users. We also briefly discuss the meth- odology used to research the influence of OHI on medical decisions.
Research findings show that the strength of the impact of online-acquired informa- tion on medical decisions ranges from 11% to 80% of the population examined, with most studies placing it between 30% and 60% (Thapa et al., 2021). One differentiating factor in the strength of OHI’s influence on medical decisions was the type of decision (e.g., choice of treatment method), the health literacy level of study participants, as well as decisions about self-care and self-medication. This paper offers a typology of OHI functions in the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural dimensions of medical decisions. From a sociologi- cal perspective, the study of human behaviour in the health sphere raises questions about the ethics of online media and their responsibility for user health.
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