Social Network Analysis of Elders' Health Literacy and their Use of Online Health Information

• Published in: Healthcare informatics research Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 216 - 225
• Main Authors: Jang, Haeran, An, Ji-Young
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korean Society of Medical Informatics 01.07.2014; The Korean Society of Medical Informatics; 대한의료정보학회
• Subjects: aged; consumer health information; health literacy; internet; medical subject headings; Original; 예방의학; Aged; Consumer Health Information; Internet; Medical Subject Headings; Health Literacy
• ISSN: 2093-3681; 2093-369X
• DOI: 10.4258/hir.2014.20.3.216

Utilizing social network analysis, this study aimed to analyze the main keywords in the literature regarding the health literacy of and the use of online health information by aged persons over 65. Medical Subject Heading keywords were extracted from articles on the PubMed database of the National Library of Medicine. For health literacy, 110 articles out of 361 were initially extracted. Seventy-one keywords out of 1,021 were finally selected after removing repeated keywords and applying pruning. Regarding the use of online health information, 19 articles out of 26 were selected. One hundred forty-four keywords were initially extracted. After removing the repeated keywords, 74 keywords were finally selected. Health literacy was found to be strongly connected with 'Health knowledge, attitudes, practices' and 'Patient education as topic.' 'Computer literacy' had strong connections with 'Internet' and 'Attitude towards computers.' 'Computer literacy' was connected to 'Health literacy,' and was studied according to the parameters 'Attitude towards health' and 'Patient education as topic.' The use of online health information was strongly connected with 'Health knowledge, attitudes, practices,' 'Consumer health information,' 'Patient education as topic,' etc. In the network, 'Computer literacy' was connected with 'Health education,' 'Patient satisfaction,' 'Self-efficacy,' 'Attitude to computer,' etc. Research on older citizens' health literacy and their use of online health information was conducted together with study of computer literacy, patient education, attitude towards health, health education, patient satisfaction, etc. In particular, self-efficacy was noted as an important keyword. Further research should be conducted to identify the effective outcomes of self-efficacy in the area of interest.