Women in Qatar are shown to be active seekers of reliable health information and they have an understanding of how to use the information to improve their health, according to a recently published study.
The study was recently published on QScience, online platform of Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press.
Both Qatari and non-Qatari women were active seekers of health information, especially from online sources, revealed the study ‘Health Information-Seeking Behaviours of Women in Qatar.’
It has investigated the health information-seeking behaviours of women in Qatar, to identify sources and resources used to obtain health information, and particularly whether women used libraries as a source of health information.
Results were obtained from 1,150 participants. The study has stated that most were confident in their health information-seeking behaviours: they understand how to use the information to improve their health, are able to find reliable health information, and could discuss their health with their doctor.
Health information-seeking behaviour (HISB) is active need-fulfillment behavior whereby health information is obtained from diverse sources, such as the media, and has emerged as an important issue within the transforming medical environment and the rise of medical consumers.
An online survey questionnaire was used to explore health information-seeking behaviour among adult women (aged 18 years or over) living in Qatar.
More than half (55.11%) obtained information about staying healthy from reading, watching educational videos, and online searches. The most commonly used sources of health information were search engines such as Google and Yahoo (43.37%). Internet use was higher among younger and more educated women.
About three quarters (74.50%) of the participants did not use libraries to obtain health information.“Future studies need to consider how to involve older people, or those without internet access, and use more qualitative data, perhaps from interviews, to improve understanding of behaviours,” suggested the study by Amani Saleh Alyafei. “Future studies might also examine whether married respondents, or those with children, adopted different behaviors.
The study suggests that public libraries need to market their services, including online resources, and educate the public on how to evaluate online sources of information,” it added
