How, When and Why People Seek Health Information Online: Qualitative Study in Hong Kong
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Internet has become an established source for health information. The number of individuals using the Internet to search for health information, ranging from healthy lifestyle advice to treatment and diseases, continues to grow. Scholars have emphasized the need to give greater voice and influence to health consumers. Hong Kong, being one of the most technologically advanced and connected cities in the world, has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the world. Given the dearth of research in an Asian context, Hong Kong is an excellent platform to study individuals' perceptions (eg, benefits and limitations on seeking health information online and how the information is used) on health information seeking. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper was to study individuals' perceptions on health information seeking and to document their Internet information-seeking behaviors. METHODS: Five focus groups (n=49) were conducted from November 2015 to January 2016 with individuals across different age groups (18 years or above). Focus group contents were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis techniques. RESULTS: Older (55+ years) and less educated respondents were less likely to use the Internet to search for health information. Among individuals who obtained health information via the Internet, regardless of the severity of the health issue, the Internet was always the first source for information. Limited doctor consultation time and barriers to accessing professional health services were the main reasons for using the Internet. Convenience and coverage were regarded as the main advantages, whereas credibility and trustworthiness of health information were noted as limitations. The use of Web-based health information varied among individuals; hence, the implications on the doctor-patient relationship were mixed. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalent and increasing use of the Internet for health information seeking suggests the need for health care professionals to understand how it can be optimally utilized to improve health outcomes. Strategies for communicating and disseminating credible health information in a form that users can understand and use are essential. Due to the rapid technological and related behavioral changes, online health information seeking and its effects need to be closely monitored.
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There were reported concerns about the credibility, limitation and trustworthiness of online information.
“There were reported concerns about the credibility, limitation and trustworthiness of online information [39, 51].”
Searching for health information online demands time, energy, and physical effort, especially for those not as familiar with technology.
“Searching for health information online demands time, energy, and physical effort, especially for those not as familiar with technology [38, 39, 51].”
One qualitative study reported that many patients (31%) believed that advice taken from the internet was not personalised to their clinical situation or based on their past medical history, preventing accurate self-diagnosis.
“One qualitative study reported that many patients (31%) believed that advice taken from the internet was not personalised to their clinical situation or based on their past medical history, preventing accurate self-diagnosis [51].”
The internet is not seen as a replacement for visiting a HCP, but as offering a complimentary source of information.
“The internet is not seen as a replacement for visiting a HCP, but as offering a complimentary source of information [30, 50, 51].”
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Bas, M. L., Cardona, G., & Armayones, M. (2020) · Journal of Optometry · doi:10.1016/j.optom.2020.06.005 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Alsulaiman, S. A., & Rentner, T. L. (2021) · Atlantic Journal of Communication · doi:10.1080/15456870.2021.1981330 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“This supports Chu et al. (2017) findings that found individuals go first to the internet for health information due to its enormous benefits, including coverage of vast information, convenience, and ability to access the information anytime and from any location, and the ability it provides to…”
BackgroundBaenninger, P. B., Faes, L., Kaufmann, C., Reichmuth, V., Bachmann, L. M., & Thiel, M. A. (2018) · Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery · doi:10.1016/j.jcrs.2018.07.052 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Marcu, A., Black, G. B., & Whitaker, K. L. (2018) · Health Risk & Society · doi:10.1080/13698575.2018.1550742 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“These results support existing research on the relationship between education level and cancer information-seeking (Castleton et al., 2011; Chu et al., 2017; Lee et al., 2012; Ramanadhan & Viswanath, 2006; Thomson et al., 2012; Vrinten et al., 2018).”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialCYBERCHONDRIA AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG UNIVERSITY STAFF
Uzun, S. U., & Zencir, M. (2022) · Eskişehir Türk Dünyası Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi Halk Sağlığı Dergisi · doi:10.35232/estudamhsd.1027589 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
de Bérail, P., & Bungener, C. (2022) · Social Network Analysis and Mining · doi:10.1007/s13278-022-00925-5 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Šuto, J., Marušić, A., & Buljan, I. (2023) · Cancer Medicine · doi:10.1002/cam4.5825 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Durán, L., Almeida, A. M., Lopes, A. C., & Figueiredo‐Braga, M. (2022) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare10010165 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Ng, W. W. M., Wong, A. S. W., & Cheung, K. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18126633 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
#implantology: A content analysis of the implant-related hashtags on Instagram
Ellakany, P., Aly, N. M., & Hassan, M. G. (2023) · Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry · doi:10.1016/j.prosdent.2023.10.013 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Sakr, F., Safwan, J., Cherfane, M., Salameh, P., Sacre, H., Haddad, C., Khatib, S. E., Rahal, M. K., Dia, M., Harb, A., et al. (2023) · Medicina · doi:10.3390/medicina59122172 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Greenberg, K. L., Poupko, T., Sorotzkin, D., Keidar, O., & Zwas, D. R. (2022) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2022.100599 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Xiang, M., Guan, T., Lin, M., Xie, Y., Luo, X., Han, M., & Lv, K. (2023) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare11121789 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Smart Self-Checkup for Early Disease Prediction
Johari, N. A. A. M., Mohamad, N., & Isa, N. B. (2020) · IEEE International Conference on Automatic Control and Intelligent Systems (I2CACIS) · doi:10.1109/i2cacis49202.2020.9140205 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“The number of individuals using the Internet to search for health information, ranging from healthy lifestyle advice to treatment and diseases, continues to grow [1].”
BackgroundCan people with epilepsy trust AI chatbots for information on physical exercise?
Silva, R. R., de Lima, B. E., Costa, T. G., Morais, N. S., José, G., Cordeiro, D. F., de Almeida, A. A., Lopim, G. M., Viana, R. B., Sousa, B. S., et al. (2024) · Epilepsy & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2024.110193 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“For many, the Internet has become a key source of health information [13,14].”
Utilizing Google Trends data to enhance forecasts and monitor long COVID prevalence
Chu, A. M. Y., Tsang, J. T. Y., Chan, S. S. C., Chan, L. S. H., & So, M. K. P. (2025) · Communications Medicine · doi:10.1038/s43856-025-00896-6 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationStocco, F., Kwan, J. Y., Sood, M., Scott, D. J. A., Bailey, M. A., & Coughlin, P. A. (2023) · Annals of Vascular Surgery · doi:10.1016/j.avsg.2023.04.031 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Implications of source, content, and style cues in curbing health misinformation and fake news
Ha, L. S., Rahut, D., Ofori, M., Sharma, S., Harmon, M., Tolofari, A. L., Bowen, B. ‘., Lu, Y., & Khan, A. (2023) · Internet Research · doi:10.1108/intr-07-2022-0556 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Thorpe, M., Taylor, J., & Cole, R. L. (2020) · Health Promotion Journal of Australia · doi:10.1002/hpja.336 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Review of online breastfeeding information for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
Hopkins, M., Meedya, S., Ivers, R. G., & Charlton, K. E. (2020) · Women and Birth · doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2020.06.012 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Health Information-Seeking Behavior of Students at Kuwait University
Aldousari, E., & Al‐Muomen, N. (2020) · The International Information & Library Review · doi:10.1080/10572317.2020.1849913 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“This behavior has become widespread in various parts of the world and mainly involves individuals consulting a variety of sites to understand the symptoms they suffer from, determine whether they might have a specific disease or health condition, attempt to make a self-diagnosis, and obtain treatment solutions without…”
BackgroundInfluentialD’Andrea, A., Grifoni, P., & Ferri, F. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20021076 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Ishizuki, S., & Hirano, M. (2024) · Nursing and Health Sciences · doi:10.1111/nhs.13098 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Autistic discussion forums: insights into the topics that clinicians don’t know about
Caldwell‐Harris, C. L., McGlowan, T., & Beitia, K. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1271841 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Lim, Y. X., Yap, X. Y., Domingo, R. V. C., Tan, Y., Tan, P. C., & Wu, X. V. (2025) · Nursing and Health Sciences · doi:10.1111/nhs.70056 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Shukla, I. Y., & Sun, M. Z. (2025) · Journal of Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2025.111410 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Characterization of online support group resources for patients with dermatologic conditions
Kaundinya, T., El-Behaedi, S., Bilimoria, S. N., & Choi, J. N. (2023) · Archives of Dermatological Research · doi:10.1007/s00403-023-02528-2 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
The model of online health information-seeking behavior among older adults
Pourrazavi, S., & Bazargan‐Hejazi, S. (2024) · BioSocial Health Journal. · doi:10.34172/bshj.1 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“14,15 The grounded theory approach seems a suitable qualitative research method for investigating the phenomenon of OHIS behavior in a comprehensive manner.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialAlgumzi, A. (2021) · International Health · doi:10.1093/inthealth/ihab020 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Ge, Y., Yao, D., Ung, C. O. L., Xue, Y., Li, M., Lin, J., Hu, H., & Lai, Y. (2023) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/43812 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“The literature indicates that DMISs could improve physician-patient communication, patient health management, and pharmacy services [5,34-36].”
Leveraging deep active learning for multimodal health misinformation detection on social media
Zhao, Y., & Zeng, S. (2025) · Information Processing & Management · doi:10.1016/j.ipm.2025.104540 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Stillbirth and risk factors: an evaluation of Irish and UK websites
Sánchez, T. E., Meaney, S., & O'Donoghue, K. (2021) · Journal of Communication in Healthcare · doi:10.1080/17538068.2020.1807887 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Ghweeba, M., Lindenmeyer, A., Shishi, S., Waheed, A., Kofi, M. A., & Amer, S. A. A. M. (2021) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/30108 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“The internet presents medical information through a variety of mediums including websites, listservs, online support groups, chat rooms, instant messaging, and emails [8].”
BackgroundSingh, G., Nimmon, L., Sawatzky, B., & Mortenson, W. B. (2022) · Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation · doi:10.46292/sci21-00016 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Determining health information–seeking behavior of shoulder patients
Miller, A. S., Stetler, P., Sharma, S., Ahmed, A. F., Jenkins, S. G., Vattigunta, S., Huish, E. G., & Srikumaran, U. (2022) · Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery · doi:10.1016/j.jse.2021.12.038 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Classifications, Changes, and Challenges of Online Health Information Seekers during COVID-19
Choi, H., & Ahn, S. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18189495 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Park, S., Kim-Knauss, Y., & Sim, J.-A. (2021) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.759802 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Development and psychometric properties of the online health information-seeking skill scale
Hashemi-Demne, J., Izadi-Avanji, F. S., & Kafaei-Atrian, M. (2021) · International Archives of Health Sciences · doi:10.4103/iahs.iahs_148_21 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
A meta-Ethnography on Parents’ Experiences of the Internet As a Source of Health Information
Strand, T., & Westergren, T. (2024) · Global Qualitative Nursing Research · doi:10.1177/23333936241259246 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“In this paper, health information and literacy relate to the context of contemporary parenting, briefly described above, as well as the Internet with its’ wealth of information of various quality (Chu et al., 2017).”
BackgroundFactors Affecting Levels of Cyberchondria in Mothers of Children with Food Allergies
Kan, A., Kartal, G., & Öztürk, M. (2023) · Eastern Journal Of Medicine · doi:10.5505/ejm.2023.34366 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Zhang, B., Naderi, N., Mishra, R., & Teodoro, D. (2024) · JMIR AI · doi:10.2196/42630 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
How Health-Related Misinformation Spreads Across the Internet: Evidence for the “Typhoon Eye” Effect
Zheng, L., Cai, J., Wang, F., Ruan, C., Xu, M., & Miao, M. (2022) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2022.0047 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Soni, T., Lakshmi, P. V. M., & Kaur, M. (2017) · Indian Journal of Community Health · doi:10.47203/ijch.2017.v29i04.018 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Aljohani, N. F. (2025) · Engineering Technology & Applied Science Research · doi:10.48084/etasr.8747 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Health information seeking refers to the collection of techniques individuals utilize to acquire information about their health, activities to maintain well-being, factors that pose risk, and illnesses [26].”
Stuttering Representation on X: A Detailed Analysis of Content, Sentiment, and Influences
Jokar, A. H. R., Karimi, H., & Yaruss, J. S. (2025) · American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology · doi:10.1044/2025_ajslp-24-00375 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Wang, J., Hou, Z., Wu, S., Tao, S., de Kok, I. M. C. M., Fu, H., & Zou, R. (2021) · Health Risk & Society · doi:10.1080/13698575.2021.1887459 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“The quality and trustworthiness of health information on the internet is a primary concern for many (Chu et al., 2017).”
BackgroundZhang, B., Naderi, N., Mishra, R., & Teodoro, D. (2023) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2023.04.11.22281038 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Burzyńska, J., Jakubus, K., Bartosiewicz, A., & Kruk, W. (2023) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-3042719/v1 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Zhao, L., & Liu, T. (2025) · Digital Health · doi:10.1177/20552076251393378 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“3,74,75 Despite China ’ s status as a leading digital power with over 1.123 billion internet users, the bene fi ts of its rapid digitalization are not equitably distributed.”
InfluentialTu’akoi, S., Ofanoa, M., Ofanoa, S., Tohi, M., Heather, M., Lutui, H., Lamont, R., Fanueli, E., & Goodyear‐Smith, F. (2025) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare13222924 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“%) identified the internet as the first means they used to seek health information [27].”
Babalola, A. E., Johnson, V. M., Bolarinwa, O., Ogwuche, A. O., Somoye, V. A., Williams, T., Azeez, O. A., Onasanya, O. J., Okiti, R. O., & Oludiran, O. D. (2026) · Discover Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1007/s44163-026-00863-7 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“There is a constant increase in the usage of the internet/webpages and AI for health information seeking [31].”
Patients with Heart Failure: Internet Use and Mobile Health Perceptions
Sohn, A., Turner, A. M., Speier, W. F., Fonarow, G. C., Ong, M. K., & Arnold, C. W. (2024) · Applied Clinical Informatics · doi:10.1055/a-2273-5278 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Usability Assessment Methods for Mobile Apps for Physical Rehabilitation: Umbrella Review
Hach, S., Alder, G., Stavric, V., Taylor, D., & Signal, N. (2024) · JMIR mhealth and uhealth · doi:10.2196/49449 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Furthermore, similar to the observed trend of increased health information seeking on the internet [7], the democratization of access to rehabilitation could be achieved by individuals actively seeking stand-alone mHealth solutions.”
BackgroundAn Evaluation of the Usage of Internet Resources by Patients with Lung Cancer
Lum-Wang, S., Ingledew, P., Carolan, H., Dunne, E. M., Chan, E., Wang, Y., Liu, M., & Chai, B. S. (2024) · Journal of Cancer Education · doi:10.1007/s13187-024-02537-3 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
- Authors
- Chu, J. T., Wang, M. P., Shen, C., Viswanath, K., Lam, T. H., & Chan, S. S. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Harvard University (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Interactive Journal of Medical Research
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Published
- 2017-12-12
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- e24
- ISSN
- 1929-073X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5743920
- OpenAlex
- W2772082966
- Cited by
- 181
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 13.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Interactive Journal of Medical Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- The HKU Scholars Hub (University of Hong Kong) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Information Retrieval and Search Behavior
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Keywords
- online health information seeking, internet use for health, health information credibility, trust in health information, physician-patient relationship, older adults, educational attainment, Hong Kong
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
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