Trust in Health Information Sources Differs between Young/Middle and Oldest Old. Issue 4 (March 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Le, Thai; Chaudhuri, Shomir; White, Cathy; Thompson, Hilaire; Demiris, George
• Is Part Of: American journal of health promotion. Volume 28:Issue 4(2014)
• Page Start: 239
• Page End: 241
• Publication Date: 2014-03
• Subjects: Aged -- Information Seeking Behavior -- Health Promotion -- Prevention Research -- Manuscript format research -- Research purpose: descriptive, instrument development -- Study design: nonexperimental -- Outcome measure: cognitive, behavioral -- Setting: local community, clinical health care -- Health focus: intellectual health, medical self-care, social health -- Strategy: education, culture change, behavior change -- Target population: seniors -- Target population circumstances: education/income level, race/ethnicity; Health promotion -- Periodicals; Health Promotion; Health promotion; Periodicals; Periodicals; 613.05
• DOI: 10.4278/ajhp.120921-ARB-459
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0890-1171

Abstract

Purpose: Examine differences in trust of health information sources between the oldest old and young/middle old. Design: Cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling. Setting: Eleven retirement communities. Subjects: Older adults ≥ 65 years (N = 353). Measures: Self rated trust in health information sources. Analysis: Mann-Whitney U-test or Fisher exact test to compare trust between age groups; multinomial ordered logistic regression analyses to model trust in Internet information sources. Results: The overall survey response rate was 26.6%. Differences in trust were identified between oldest old (n = 108) and young/middle old (n = 245) for pharmacist (p < .05), Internet (p < .001), television (p < .05), radio (p < .001), and newspaper (p < .05) sources. In the oldest old, we found associations between levels of trust in Internet sources and frequency of Internet use (β = 4.13, p < .001). Conclusion: Understanding where differences in trust arise can inform the design of resources to support the information-seeking process. When planning widespread distribution of health information to these distinct groups, program developers need to consider these differences.