Title : Health information behavior and its influencing factors among young and middle-aged postoperative lung cancer patients in the digital-intelligent era: A cross-sectional study
Abstract:
Background: With the widespread use of the internet, social media, and artificial intelligence in healthcare, the ways patients obtain health information have changed substantially. Young and middle-aged postoperative lung cancer patients have ongoing and diverse health information needs during recovery; however, they also face challenges such as information overload, variable information quality, difficulty in filtering relevant information, and increased emotional burden, all of which may affect their health information behavior. Nevertheless, evidence on health information behavior and its associated factors in this population remains limited.
Objective: To investigate health information behavior and its influencing factors among young and middle-aged postoperative lung cancer patients in the digital health era.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among young and middle-aged postoperative lung cancer patients. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, disease-related information, digital health use, and health information behavior were collected through questionnaires. Descriptive analysis, univariate analysis, and multivariable regression were used to identify associated factors.
Results: The overall level of health information behavior was moderate. Age, education, occupation, household income, postoperative duration, treatment modality, smart device use, and weekly time spent accessing health information were associated with health information behavior. Information overload, information quality, social support, self-efficacy, and emotional burden were identified as important influencing factors
Conclusions: Health information behavior among young and middle-aged postoperative lung cancer patients was influenced by multiple factors, including sociodemographic characteristics, disease-related characteristics, digital health use, and psychosocial factors. These findings provide evidence for developing targeted health information support strategies to improve patients’ access to, understanding of, and use of health information during postoperative recovery.
