Information behavior and information health literacy of users of primary health care facilities

Introduction: In the field of health, the relationship between patients and health professionals is influenced by the increasing ability of the patient to be informed about health issues from a large number of sources and especially through the use of the internet. The level of information literacy and the information behavior of patients are a key factor in this therapeutic relationship.

Aim: To investigate the informative behavior and the health information literacy of Primary Structures of Health Services in Attica, as well as the relationship between the two variables, taking into account the demographic characteristics among users.

Material and Method: Empirical investigation of the information behavior and health information literacy of the patients who visited the Spata Health Center Regular outpatient Neurological Clinic was conducted through the provision of specially designed questionnaire. The survey was attended by 102 participants who met specific criteria. The survey was conducted anonymously, and all ethical and ethical principles were respected in the survey. The bilateral level of statistical significance was set equal to 0.05. Data analysis was performed with IBM SPSS 21.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences.

Results: The level of information health literacy and the skills of the participants in finding and utilizing health information is low while most participants have not understood the importance and necessity of proper information behavior in seeking medical information. These specific low results are related to the growing age, the existence of chronic disease, the low educational level and the poor financial situation of the participants. General health information is most frequently sought from the participants under 35 and 46-55 years of age (p=0.011), those living with their parents or with a roommate (p=0.010), those with post-secondary education (p=0.047), employed (p=0.028) and participants without chronic disease (p<0.001), while the frequency of searching for general health information increases as the economic level of the participants increases (p=0.006). Individual health information is requested more often by participants under 35 years old and 46-55 years old (p=0.011), widowed (p=0.009), those with post- secondary  education  (p=0.048),  employed  (p<0.001)  and  participants  without  chronic  disease  (p<0.001)  while the frequency of searching for individual information increases as the financial level of the participants increases (p=0.004). Participants <35 years of age (p=0.027), those who live with their parents or with a roommate but also those who are single or live alone (p=0.001), those who have completed post-secondary education or are university graduates (p=0.014), employees (p=0.034) and participants without chronic disease (p<0.001) show a greater ability to search for information, while the ability to search for information increases as the economic level of the participants increases (p=0.006).