Assessing Saudis’ Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Seeking Health Information Online
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Abstract
Background: e-Health has proven its efficiency and effectiveness in improving the quality of health services. This concept is newly-emerging in Saudi Arabia, where many organizations are exerting efforts to develop it. Unfortunately, most are concentrated on inter-professional communication and education. This raised a need to be used as a tool for health promotion.
Objective: This study assessed the knowledge and attitudes of the Saudi population towards e-Health and online health information. In terms of health promotion, what are Saudis’ perceptions of this emerging idea? And do they need more education about the available e-health resources and services?
Methods: The participants completed either a web-based questionnaire or an interview.
The web-based questionnaire was developed based on the literature. Twitter, Facebook, What’s App, Blackberry Messenger, and e-mails were used as distribution methods to invite people to participate in the survey. Besides English, Arabic was considered in the questionnaire since it is the official language of the target audience.
Results: 358 participants responded to the survey. The majority of them (87%) admitted that they use the Internet to search for health related information. Of those, approximately 84% revealed that their main purpose for seeking health information online was to learn more about certain health conditions. Around 10% of them claimed that their reason generated from the fact that doctors don’t provide them with enough information. About 70% of the Internet users in the sample admitted that they used the Internet one to four times a month to search for health related topics. Around 50% of the participants reported that they rarely trust and apply the acquired online health information. However, 36% of them admitted that they usually use and apply this information. Almost 70% of the sample noted that they were not aware of qualified Arabic health resources available on the Internet. On the other hand, 24% of them showed knowledge of that. The most important finding was that around 76% of the respondents were not satisfied with the current situation, and they believed they needed to learn more about reliable eHealth resources on the web.
Conclusions: The findings showed positive attitudes towards searching for and acquiring health-related information online. They also showed that there is a huge need to provide Saudis with educational programs that raise their awareness about reliable and trust-worthy online health resources.
Objective: This study assessed the knowledge and attitudes of the Saudi population towards e-Health and online health information. In terms of health promotion, what are Saudis’ perceptions of this emerging idea? And do they need more education about the available e-health resources and services?
Methods: The participants completed either a web-based questionnaire or an interview.
The web-based questionnaire was developed based on the literature. Twitter, Facebook, What’s App, Blackberry Messenger, and e-mails were used as distribution methods to invite people to participate in the survey. Besides English, Arabic was considered in the questionnaire since it is the official language of the target audience.
Results: 358 participants responded to the survey. The majority of them (87%) admitted that they use the Internet to search for health related information. Of those, approximately 84% revealed that their main purpose for seeking health information online was to learn more about certain health conditions. Around 10% of them claimed that their reason generated from the fact that doctors don’t provide them with enough information. About 70% of the Internet users in the sample admitted that they used the Internet one to four times a month to search for health related topics. Around 50% of the participants reported that they rarely trust and apply the acquired online health information. However, 36% of them admitted that they usually use and apply this information. Almost 70% of the sample noted that they were not aware of qualified Arabic health resources available on the Internet. On the other hand, 24% of them showed knowledge of that. The most important finding was that around 76% of the respondents were not satisfied with the current situation, and they believed they needed to learn more about reliable eHealth resources on the web.
Conclusions: The findings showed positive attitudes towards searching for and acquiring health-related information online. They also showed that there is a huge need to provide Saudis with educational programs that raise their awareness about reliable and trust-worthy online health resources.
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