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From awareness to action: exploring health information seeking behavior in coronary heart disease patients: a
Yunyu Guo1, Panpan Tang1,2, Meijuan Lan1
1Department of Nursing, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Insights
Coronary heart disease patients exhibit diverse health information seeking behaviors (HISB) influenced by unique psychological and socioeconomic factors. Tailored health education strategies are crucial for effective chronic disease management.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology and Public Health
- Health Behavior Research
- Health Psychology
Background:
- Coronary heart disease (CHD) presents a significant global health challenge, necessitating effective long-term self-management strategies.
- Health information seeking behavior (HISB) is vital for CHD self-management, yet current levels among patients are suboptimal, with limited understanding of influencing factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate health information seeking behavior (HISB) among patients diagnosed with coronary heart disease (CHD).
- To identify specific factors associated with variations in HISB within the CHD patient population, utilizing the Risk Perception Attitude (RPA) framework.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 330 CHD patients in China.
- Data collection via validated questionnaires on sociodemographics, clinical data, HISB, risk perception, and self-efficacy.
- K-means clustering based on the RPA framework to define patient subgroups, followed by multivariate linear regression to identify subgroup-specific HISB predictors.
Main Results:
- Four distinct patient subgroups were identified: Responsive (6.7%), Proactive (41.2%), Indifference (8.2%), and Avoidance (43.9%).
- Subgroup-specific factors influencing HISB included risk perception, self-efficacy, education level, income, medical insurance type, and age.
- For instance, higher education was associated with increased HISB in the Proactive and Avoidance groups, while older age was linked to lower HISB in the Avoidance group.
Conclusions:
- CHD patients demonstrate significant heterogeneity in HISB, driven by distinct psychological and socioeconomic factors across RPA-defined subgroups.
- Uniform health education approaches are insufficient; tailored interventions addressing specific patient profiles are essential for improving chronic disease management.
- Personalized strategies aligning with patient psychographic profiles can enhance the precision and effectiveness of clinical and public health interventions for CHD.
Introduction:
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major global health burden requiring long-term management. Despite the essential role of health information seeking behavior (HISB) in disease self-management, current levels among CHD patients remain low, and research on its influencing factors is limited.
Objectives:
This study aimed to explore HISB among patients with CHD and to identify factors associated with variations in HISB using the Risk Perception Attitude (RPA) framework.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study of 330 CHD patients was conducted in China, using convenience sampling method. Data were collected through validated questionnaires assessing sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, HISB, risk perception, and self-efficacy. K-means clustering based on the RPA framework was employed to empirically identify distinct patient subgroups. Multivariate linear regression identified factors associated with of HISB within each subgroup.
Results:
Four distinct subgroups were identified based on risk perception and self-efficacy: Responsive (6.7%), Proactive (41.2%), Indifference (8.2%), and Avoidance (43.9%). Multivariate regression revealed subgroup-specific factors: for Responsive, physical diagnosis and treatment risk was significant [β = 2.049, 95%CI (0.528,3.570)]; For Proactive, higher education [β = 4.725, 95%CI (2.272,7.178)], per capita monthly household income and self-efficacy were positively associated, while type of medical insurance [β = -5.814, 95%CI (-8.800, -2.828)], number of other diseases, and economic risk were negative predictors; For Indifference, only type of medical insurance was significant [β = -6.447, 95%CI (-12.503, -0.391)]; For Avoidance, older age was linked to lower HISB [β = -4.757, 95%CI (-8.525, -0.989)], whereas higher education increased it [β = 5.432, 95%CI (2.353, 8.511)].
Conclusions:
This study validates the heterogeneity of CHD patients through RPA-based subgrouping, revealing that health information seeking behaviors are driven by distinct psychological and socioeconomic mechanisms across different groups. These findings underscore the limitation of uniform health education approaches and highlight the necessity of implementing subgroup-tailored strategies. By aligning clinical and public health interventions with the specific psychographic profiles of patient groups, healthcare providers can significantly enhance the precision and effectiveness of chronic disease management.
Registration:
www.chictr.org.cn, identifier: ChiCTR2300069238.
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