Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Feb 24;11(5):663.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare11050663.

The Usage and Trustworthiness of Various Health Information Sources in the United Arab Emirates: An Online National Cross-Sectional Survey

Mariam A Almaazmi  1 , Kamel A Samara  1 , Mohammed Jarai  1 , Hussain Majeed  2 , Hiba J Barqawi  3   4
Affiliations

The Usage and Trustworthiness of Various Health Information Sources in the United Arab Emirates: An Online National Cross-Sectional Survey

Mariam A Almaazmi et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: The increase in the quality and availability of health information as well as the accessibility of Internet-based sources, has driven growing demand for online health information. Information preferences are influenced by many factors, including information needs, intentions, trustworthiness, and socioeconomic variables. Hence, understanding the interplay of these factors helps stakeholders provide current and relevant health information sources to assist consumers in assessing their healthcare options and making informed medical decisions. Aims: To assess the different sources of health information sought by the UAE population and to investigate the level of trustworthiness of each source. Methods: The study adopted a descriptive online cross-sectional design. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from UAE residents aged 18 years or above between July 2021 and September 2021. Health information sources, their trustworthiness, and health-oriented beliefs were explored through univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analysis in Python. Results: A total of 1083 responses were collected, out of which 683 (63%) were females. Doctors were the first source of health information (67.41%) before COVID-19, whereas websites were the first source (67.22%) during the pandemic. Other sources, such as pharmacists, social media, and friends and family, were not prioritized as primary sources. Overall, doctors had a high trustworthiness of 82.73%, followed by pharmacists with a high trustworthiness of 59.8%. The Internet had a partial trustworthiness of 58.4%. Social media and friends and family had a low trustworthiness of 32.78% and 23.73%, respectively. Age, marital status, occupation, and degree obtained were all significant predictors of Internet usage for health information. Conclusions: The population in the UAE commonly obtains health information from doctors who have been shown to have the highest trustworthiness; this is despite it not being the most common source used.

Keywords: Internet; United Arab Emirates; health information sources; knowledge sources; trustworthiness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The distribution of health information resources usage before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The level of trustworthiness for the different health information sources.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alduraywish S.A., Altamimi L.A., Aldhuwayhi R.A., AlZamil L.R., Alzeghayer L.Y., Alsaleh F.S., Aldakheel F.M., Tharkar S. Sources of Health Information and Their Impacts on Medical Knowledge Perception Among the Saudi Arabian Population: Cross-Sectional Study. J. Med. Internet Res. 2020;22:e14414. doi: 10.2196/14414. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. AlGhamdi K.M., Moussa N.A. Internet use by the public to search for health-related information. Int. J. Med. Inform. 2012;81:363–373. doi: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2011.12.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ashkanani H., Asery R., Bokubar F., AlAli N., Mubarak S., Buabbas A., Almajran A. Web-Based Health Information Seeking Among Students at Kuwait University: Cross-Sectional Survey Study. JMIR Form. Res. 2019;3:e14327. doi: 10.2196/14327. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baheiraei A., Khoori E., Foroushani A.R., Ahmadi F., Ybarra M.L. What sources do adolescents turn to for information about their health concerns? Int. J. Adolesc. Med. Health. 2014;26:61–68. doi: 10.1515/ijamh-2012-0112. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Carpenter D.M., DeVellis R.F., Hogan S.L., Fisher E.B., DeVellis B.M., Jordan J.M. Use and Perceived Credibility of Medication Information Sources for Patients with a Rare Illness: Differences by Gender. J. Health Commun. 2011;16:629–642. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2011.551995. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources