IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/igg/jehmc0/v9y2018i2p59-73.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health Searching Behaviour of Citizens From Countries in the Middle East and North African Region

Author

Listed:
  • Anushia Inthiran

    (School of Accounting and Information Systems, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand)

  • Saadat M. Alhashmi

    (School of Business, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates)

  • Pervaiz K. Ahmed

    (School of Business, Monash University Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia)

Abstract

Most research studies in health information searching behaviour are conducted in developed countries. Little is known with strong governmental support in healthcare initiatives it is interesting to take note of the general information searching practices of citizens in the Middle East and North African region. In this article, a questionnaire was distributed in a university setting in the United Arab Emirates. Sixty participants consisting of citizens from MENA countries participated in this study. The results indicate citizens from the Middle East and North African region do perform online health searches. However, an equal number of citizens use books and mass media to obtain health information. When online methods are utilised, working adults who have more years of experience searching for health information tend to use more medical type search engines. Undergraduate students were generally new to the process of online health information searching. Online health searching in the MENA region is more of a social and educational activity rather than a private activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Anushia Inthiran & Saadat M. Alhashmi & Pervaiz K. Ahmed, 2018. "Health Searching Behaviour of Citizens From Countries in the Middle East and North African Region," International Journal of E-Health and Medical Communications (IJEHMC), IGI Global, vol. 9(2), pages 59-73, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:igg:jehmc0:v:9:y:2018:i:2:p:59-73
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://services.igi-global.com/resolvedoi/resolve.aspx?doi=10.4018/IJEHMC.2018040104
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:igg:jehmc0:v:9:y:2018:i:2:p:59-73. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journal Editor (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.igi-global.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.