Disclosure in Online vs. Face-to-Face Occupational Health Screenings: A Cross-Sectional Study in Belgian Hospital Employees

Jonas Stefaan Steel, Lode Godderis and Jeroen Luyten
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Jonas Stefaan Steel: Leuven Institute for Healthcare Policy, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Lode Godderis: Environment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Jeroen Luyten: Leuven Institute for Healthcare Policy, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-10

Abstract: Replacing or supplementing face-to-face health screening by occupational physicians with online surveys can be attractive for various reasons. However, the (cost-)effectiveness of both depends on employees’ willingness to disclose occupational health problems. This article investigates whether employees show a different willingness to disclose information in online surveys compared to face-to-face consultations with an occupational physician. Employees from four Flemish hospitals were asked whether they would disclose a range of typical occupational health problems to either surveys or physicians. The results were analyzed through chi-square tests and multilevel ordinary least squares regression. Of the 776 respondents, 26% indicated that they did not always disclose health problems. Respondents were more inclined to disclose mental health problems to a survey than face-to-face to a physician, whereas the opposite was true for medication misuse. Being male, younger, with lower educational attainment or lower trust in physicians, taking medication, or having a lower risk on alcohol abuse increased the likelihood of a person withholding information. We conclude that this study provides indications that online vs. face-to-face health check-ups have different strengths and weaknesses in this respect. These must be considered when evaluating the need to use online surveys (instead of, or together with, face-to-face contacts) for health screening.

Keywords: health screening; honest reporting; disclosure; deception; occupational physician; survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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