This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Toms, E. G. Articles by Latter, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Toms, E. G. Articles by Latter, C. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

How consumers search for health information

Canada Research Chair in Management Informatics Centre for Management Informatics, Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3J5 E-mail: etoms{at}dal.ca

Celeste Latter

Maritime Family Practice Research Network, Department of Family Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 2E2 E-mail: celatter{at}dal.ca

To date most of the research concerning consumer health information has focused on trust and quality of health information websites. In this research, we observed 48 consumers searching for four health-related topics (some of their own choosing) using Google. Using transaction logs, video screen capture, retrospective verbal protocols and self-reported questionnaires, we examined holistically the consumer's search process. Results indicate significant problems in query formulation and in making efficient selections from results lists.

Key Words: consumer • health • information • searching

Health Informatics Journal, Vol. 13, No. 3, 223-235 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1460458207079901


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?