Socioeconomic Status and Health Communication Inequalities in Japan: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey

Yoshiki Ishikawa, Hiromu Nishiuchi, Hana Hayashi and Kasisomayajula Viswanath

PLOS ONE, 2012, vol. 7, issue 7, 1-9

Abstract: Background: Considerable evidence suggests that communication inequality is one potential mechanism linking social determinants, particularly socioeconomic status, and health inequalities. This study aimed to examine how dimensions of health communication outcomes (health information seeking, self-efficacy, exposure, and trust) are patterned by socioeconomic status in Japan. Methods: Data of a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of 2,455 people aged 15–75 years in Japan were used for secondary analysis. Measures included socio-demographic characteristics, subjective health, recent health information seeking, self-efficacy in seeking health information, and exposure to and trust in health information from different media. Results: A total of 1,311 participants completed the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 53.6%. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that education and household income, but not employment, were significantly associated with health information seeking and self-efficacy. Socioeconomic status was not associated with exposure to and trust in health information from mass media, but was significantly associated with health information from healthcare providers and the Internet. Conclusion: Health communication outcomes were patterned by socioeconomic status in Japan thus demonstrating the prevalence of health communication inequalities. Providing customized exposure to and enhancing the quality of health information by considering social determinants may contribute to addressing social disparities in health in Japan.

Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0040664 (text/html)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id= ... 40664&type=printable (application/pdf)

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:plo:pone00:0040664

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040664

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in PLOS ONE from Public Library of Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by plosone ().