Health information behavior during the life transition among people diagnosed with hypothyroidism

Varpu Pääaho and Aira Huttunen

Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, 2025, vol. 76, issue 7, 974-988

Abstract: Being diagnosed with a chronic illness can lead to a life transition that invokes new kinds of information behavior for an individual. This qualitative study focuses on information behavior—particularly information needs, use, and barriers—during the life transitions of people diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Ten interviews were conducted in 2022 with individuals who were diagnosed with hypothyroidism. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Based on the intermediate transitions theory by I. Ruthven, 2022 (An information behavior theory of transitions. Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, 73(4), 579–593), the process of transition includes phases of understanding, negotiating, and resolving, as well as processes of event, engaging, enacting, and establishing. Based on the findings, information needs, use, and barriers varied according to the stage of disease and in different stages of a life transition. Interviewees had a wide range of information needs related to disease and diagnosis, treatment balance, and disease monitoring. Information use included the promotion of personal well‐being through physical activity and improvement of information‐seeking skills. The most significant barriers to information acquisition included communication issues with health care providers and symptoms of hypothyroidism such as fatigue and brain fog. For information providers, the results provide important knowledge on information behavior during a life transition related to a chronic illness.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24986

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jinfst:v:76:y:2025:i:7:p:974-988

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=2330-1635

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology from Association for Information Science & Technology
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().