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Review
. 2022 May 13:8:20552076221097784.
doi: 10.1177/20552076221097784. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.

Association between online health information-seeking and medication adherence: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Hooi Min Lim  1   2 , Adam G Dunn  3 , Jing Ran Lim  2 , Adina Abdullah  2 , Chirk Jenn Ng  2   4   5
Affiliations
Review

Association between online health information-seeking and medication adherence: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Hooi Min Lim et al. Digit Health. .

Abstract

Background: The evidence of the impact of online health information-seeking (OHIS) on health outcomes has been conflicting. OHIS is increasingly recognised as a factor influencing health behaviour but the impact of OHIS on medication adherence remains unclear.

Objectives: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the associations between OHIS and medication adherence.

Methods: We searched Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL and Psychology and Behavioural Science Collection for studies published up to December 2020. The inclusion criteria were studies that reported the associations of OHIS and medication adherence, quantitative design, reported primary data only, related to any health condition where medications are used and conducted on patients either in clinical or community settings. A meta-analysis was used to examine the association between OHIS and medication adherence.

Results: A total of 17 studies involving 24,890 patients were included in this review. The study designs and results were mixed. In the meta-analysis, there was no significant association (n = 7, OR 1.356, 95% CI 0.793-2.322, p = 0.265), or correlation (n = 4, r = -0.085, 95% CI -0.572-0.446, p = 0.768) between OHIS and medication adherence. In the sub-group analysis of people living with HIV/AIDS, OHIS was associated with better medication adherence (OR 1.612, 95% CI 1.266-2.054, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The current evidence of an association between OHIS and medication adherence is inconclusive. This review highlights methodological issues on how to measure OHIS objectively and calls for in-depth exploration of how OHIS affects health decisions and behaviour.

Keywords: consumer health information; information-seeking behaviour; internet; medication adherence; online.

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Conflict of interest statement

Registration and protocol: This systematic review protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021225032). Ethical approval: We did not apply for ethics approval as this is a review. Guarantor: AA Contributorship: HML, AGD, AA, and CJN conceptualised and designed the study. HML and AGD constructed the search strategy. HML and JRL performed the literature search and article screening, with CJN the third reviewer. HML and JRL performed the risk of bias assessment, data extraction, and analysis. HML drafted the manuscript. AGD, CJN, and AA contributed to the writing and critically revised the manuscript. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript and approved the final version of the manuscript.Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow diagram illustrating the identification of 4329 published works through database searching, 1166 through citation screening, and the inclusion of 17 studies for inclusion in the review. OHI; online health information.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Quality assessment of the included studies revealed high quality across most studies except for the use of a valid and reliable exposure measure.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Pooled estimate of the association between online health information-seeking and medication adherence. CI, confidence interval; MDD, major depressive disorder; SZ, schizophrenia.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Pooled estimate of the subgroup analysis on the association of online health information-seeking and medication adherence for HIV studies.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Funnel plot of meta-analysis of pooled odds ratio between online health information-seeking and medication adherence.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Funnel plot of meta-analysis of pooled correlations between online health information-seeking and medication adherence.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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