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