The Effect of Information Exchange Activities on Literacy in Online Health Community: The Evidence from PatientsLikeMe

Ji Yeon Yang, Gwanghui Ryu and Taewoo Roh ()
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Ji Yeon Yang: Department of Business Administration, The University of Suwon, Hwaseong 18323, Republic of Korea
Gwanghui Ryu: Department of Otorhinolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Republic of Korea
Taewoo Roh: School of International Studies, Hanyang University, Seoul 04736, Republic of Korea

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 16, 1-14

Abstract: Online health communities (OHC) consist of individuals with shared health-related interests who exchange health-related information among themselves and for the benefit of others. Unfortunately, a notable issue within these communities is the dissemination of a substantial volume of inaccurate health information by various online health groups. Nevertheless, a dearth of research examining the impact of information-seeking activities within OHCs exists. This study aimed to examine the influence of direct and indirect health information-seeking behaviors, specifically among users diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes who have reported complications in OHC, also called claims. Employing association rule mining (ARM) techniques, user data from PatientsLikeMe were extracted to capture information on users’ reported complications subsequent to being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (N = 6371). Subsequently, we utilized zero-inflated negative binomial regression (ZINB) to evaluate the effect of direct and indirect information search activities on false notes, including their interaction of them. The outcomes of this investigation have the potential to offer patients valuable insights regarding the reliability and trustworthiness of information derived from OHCs.

Keywords: online health community; online health information; online health literacy; false note; information exchange (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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