Incidental health information use and media complementarity: a comparison of senior and non-senior cancer patients

Abstract

Objective: This study compares the health information and media usage patterns of older adults diagnosed with cancer with their younger adult counterparts and is based theoretically in media complementarity theory [Dutta-Bergman MJ. Complementarity in consumption of news types across traditional and new media. J Broadcast Electron 2004;48:41-60; Dutta-Bergman MJ. Interpersonal communication after 9/11 via telephone and Internet: a theory of channel complementarity. New Media Soc 2004;6:659-73] and health information seeking and scanning research [Shim M, Kelly B, Hornik R. Cancer information scanning and seeking behavior is associated with knowledge, lifestyle choices, and screening. J Health Commun 2006;11:157-72].

Methods: A secondary analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) II data collected by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is performed to investigate differences in the health information behavior of younger and older adult cancer patients. The sample size was 401, with 260 non-senior cancer patients and 141 senior cancer patients.

Results: Younger adults diagnosed with cancer were more likely to gain information about health incidentally through their use of the Internet and to seek health information for others on the Internet than senior cancer patients. Complementarity of active health information seeking and incidental health information use online was supported with senior cancer patients, while complementarity of incidental health information use between traditional media channels and the Internet was partially confirmed with younger adults.

Conclusion: This study reveals similarities and differences in the health information and media usage behavior of younger and older adults diagnosed with cancer. It also provides partial support for media complementarity theory.

Practice implications: The Internet is not a panacea for health information. Health professionals need to provide written instructions to older adult cancer patients because they do not rely on the Internet for information about their illness and/or treatment.