Health Information Seeking using the Internet by Patients Attending a Surgical Care Department in a Tertiary Hospital in Sub-Sahara Africa

Abstract

Objective: To ascertain the health information seeking behavior of patients visiting a surgical care Department in a tertiary hospital using the Internet.
Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at the Surgical Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. Patients who consented to participate in the study were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The parameters considered
included the ages of the patients, their gender and educational status, the knowledge of the patients or their care-givers of the patients’ clinical diagnoses, their use of mobile phones or other Internet-ready devices, as well as access to the Internet, awareness of information on their disease condition being on the Internet and having accessed such information.
Results: The total number of responses analyzed was 319.The mean age of the patients was 42 years. There were 55.2% males and 44.8% females. The largest percentage (31.9%) had had secondary (High School) education. Of the respondents, 92.2% had mobile phones and 29.8% of the patients had other Internet-ready devices. Regarding access to the Internet, 35.7% had access, 30.4% were aware of finding health information relevant to their disease condition on the Internet and 15.7% had accessed the Internet for this health information. There was a strong correlation between the educational status of the patients and having accessed heath
information on the Internet.

Conclusion: The majority of respondents had not accessed the Internet for information on their health condition. Patient education in the West African sub-region aimed at improving the usage of the Internet to acquire quality health-related information is needed
to enhance health outcomes in this era of evidencebased health-care delivery.