IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ijphth/vyid10.1007_s00038-020-01363-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The persistence of digital divides in the use of health information: a comparative study in 28 European countries

Author

Listed:
  • Javier Alvarez-Galvez

    (University of Cadiz)

  • Jose A. Salinas-Perez

    (Universidad Loyola Andalucía
    The Australian National University)

  • Ilaria Montagni

    (Inserm-University of Bordeaux)

  • Luis Salvador-Carulla

    (The Australian National University)

Abstract

Objectives This study aimed to identify which are the socio-demographic factors that can describe health information users’ profiles in Europe and assess which are the factors distinguishing users and non-users and their association with the use of health-related online information. Methods Data from the Flash Eurobarometer No. 404 (2014) was analysed through a multilevel logistic regression model and a propensity score matching. Results There were significant differences in the use of the Internet for health information according to gender, age, education, long-term illness and health-related knowledge. Thus, some digital divides persisted in the use of health information online. Results showed that a poor health status was associated with a higher use of the Internet for health purposes only for people having chronic conditions. Conclusions Findings show a need to increase people’s eHealth literacy, especially for males over 45 years old not suffering from a long-term illness. In order to limit the misuse of poor or untrustworthy health information that might contribute to higher health disparities, special interest should be focused on population socio-demographic characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Javier Alvarez-Galvez & Jose A. Salinas-Perez & Ilaria Montagni & Luis Salvador-Carulla, 0. "The persistence of digital divides in the use of health information: a comparative study in 28 European countries," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 0, pages 1-9.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijphth:v::y::i::d:10.1007_s00038-020-01363-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s00038-020-01363-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00038-020-01363-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00038-020-01363-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hunt Allcott & Matthew Gentzkow & Chuan Yu, 2019. "Trends in the Diffusion of Misinformation on Social Media," NBER Working Papers 25500, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leopoldo Fergusson & Carlos Molina, 2020. "Facebook Causes Protests," HiCN Working Papers 323, Households in Conflict Network.
    2. Michele Cantarella & Nicolo' Fraccaroli & Roberto Volpe, 2019. "Does fake news affect voting behaviour?," Department of Economics 0146, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    3. Bartosz Wilczek, 2020. "Misinformation and herd behavior in media markets: A cross-national investigation of how tabloids’ attention to misinformation drives broadsheets’ attention to misinformation in political and business," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-22, November.
    4. Yuho Chung & Yiwei Li & Jianmin Jia, 2021. "Exploring embeddedness, centrality, and social influence on backer behavior: the role of backer networks in crowdfunding," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(5), pages 925-946, September.
    5. Joan Calzada & Nestor Duch-Brown & Ricard Gil, 2021. "Do search engines increase concentration in media markets?," UB School of Economics Working Papers 2021/415, University of Barcelona School of Economics.
    6. Laura Studen & Victor Tiberius, 2020. "Social Media, Quo Vadis? Prospective Development and Implications," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-22, August.
    7. Dr. Diala Edwin Lionel & Dr. Uzowuihe Bertha, 2024. "Visual Elements in Digital Technology Platforms and Visualized Communication in Spreading of False Information," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(3s), pages 2118-2138, March.
    8. Andrew P. Weiss & Ahmed Alwan & Eric P. Garcia & Antranik T. Kirakosian, 2021. "Toward a Comprehensive Model of Fake News: A New Approach to Examine the Creation and Sharing of False Information," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, July.
    9. Prasad Siba Borah & Courage Simon Kofi Dogbe & Nyankomo Marwa, 2024. "Generation Z's green purchase behavior: Do green consumer knowledge, consumer social responsibility, green advertising, and green consumer trust matter for sustainable development?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4530-4546, July.
    10. Jelena Vićić & Erik Gartzke, 2024. "Cyber-enabled influence operations as a ‘center of gravity’ in cyberconflict: The example of Russian foreign interference in the 2016 US federal election," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 61(1), pages 10-27, January.
    11. Besley, Timothy & Dray, Sacha, 2023. "The political economy of lockdown: Does free media matter?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    12. Ataharul Chowdhury & Khondokar H. Kabir & Abdul-Rahim Abdulai & Md Firoze Alam, 2023. "Systematic Review of Misinformation in Social and Online Media for the Development of an Analytical Framework for Agri-Food Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-25, March.
    13. David J. Grüning, 2022. "Synthesis of human and artificial intelligence: Review of “How to stay smart in a smart world: Why human intelligence still beats algorithms” by Gerd Gigerenzer," Futures & Foresight Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(3-4), September.
    14. Raúl Rodríguez-Ferrándiz & Cande Sánchez-Olmos & Tatiana Hidalgo-Marí & Estela Saquete-Boro, 2021. "Memetics of Deception: Spreading Local Meme Hoaxes during COVID-19 1st Year," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, June.
    15. Edward Simpson & David Bradley & John Palfreyman & Roger White, 2022. "Sustainable Society: Wellbeing and Technology—3 Case Studies in Decision Making," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-30, October.
    16. Beatriz Catalina García & María del Carmen García Galera & Mercedes Del Hoyo Hurtado, 2024. "From Scientific Journals to Newspapers in Spain: Interest in Disinformation (2000–2023)," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-15, April.
    17. Shelley Boulianne & Chris Tenove & Jordan Buffie, 2022. "Complicating the Resilience Model: A Four-Country Study About Misinformation," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 169-182.
    18. Matilde Giaccherini & Joanna Kopinska & Gabriele Rovigatti, 2022. "Vax Populi: The Social Costs of Online Vaccine Skepticism," CESifo Working Paper Series 10184, CESifo.
    19. Jost, Peter J. & Pünder, Johanna & Schulze-Lohoff, Isabell, 2020. "Fake news - Does perception matter more than the truth?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    20. Lisa Singh & Leticia Bode & Ceren Budak & Kornraphop Kawintiranon & Colton Padden & Emily Vraga, 2020. "Understanding high- and low-quality URL Sharing on COVID-19 Twitter streams," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 343-366, November.

    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:spr:ijphth:v::y::i::d:10.1007_s00038-020-01363-w. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.