Exploring Patients’ Perspectives on OHI: A Qualitative Study among Those with High Cardiovascular Risk

The following is a summary of “How do patients with high cardiovascular risk evaluate online health information? A qualitative study,” published in the November 2023 issue of Primary Care by Lim, et al.

The proliferation of online health information (OHI) challenges individuals in discerning between reliable and unreliable sources. For a qualitative study, researchers sought to explore how patients with high cardiovascular risk assess and establish trust in statin-related OHI.

Utilizing vignettes and think-aloud methods, participants (aged 38–74) from a primary care clinic, all at high cardiovascular risk, were presented with two statin-related vignettes: Vignette 1 (low-quality information) and Vignette 2 (high-quality information). Participants vocalized their thoughts while reading the vignettes and indicated their trust level on a 5-point Likert scale. Subsequent semi-structured interviews were conducted, recorded, and transcribed, with thematic analysis applied to the transcripts.

Among the participants, 85% trusted Vignette 2 (high-quality information), while trust in Vignette 1 (low-quality information) varied, with some expressing uncertainty. Thematic analysis revealed five key themes in how patients evaluated OHI: logical content, neutral stance and tone of OHI content, credibility of the information source, consistency with prior knowledge and experience, and corroboration with information from other sources.

Patients with high cardiovascular risk emphasized content, source credibility, and information consistency when assessing trust in statin-related OHI. A personalized approach by healthcare professionals considering patients’ prior knowledge, beliefs, and experiences with statins is recommended when addressing online misinformation.

Source: bmcprimcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-023-02182-7