Health Information Repertoires of Implant Patients: Toward a Deeper Understanding of Multiple Source Use and the Role of Health-Related Motives.

Health information-seeking behavior can be understood as an active and purposeful acquisition of information from selected information sources. It supports patients to cope with medical and health-related uncertainties and enables them to engage in informed decision-making. To obtain health information, patients can turn to a variety of sources, such as going to a physician, exchanging information with their family, or using different Internet sources. Research showed that patients typically use multiple sources to meet their health-related information needs. To attain a holistic and differentiated picture of patients' actual health information behavior, the current study draws on the repertoire approach. We conducted an online survey with 1,105 implant patients and performed a cluster analysis to explore their health information repertoires. To gain a deeper understanding of the practical meaning behind the repertoires, we also considered health-related information motives and socio-structural factors, as well as the implant type (dental, orthopedic, cochlear), to characterize the repertoires. The study revealed seven different health information repertoires of implant patients, varying in their combination of multiple sources used. In addition, group comparisons showed that the repertoires differ significantly regarding socio-structural factors, such as gender, age, and education, as well as implant type. Furthermore, information motives contribute significantly to the differentiation of the repertoires. The results are of high theoretical potential for communication science as well as practical use for strategic health communication.

On the (in)effectiveness of textual disclosures on expectancies, attitudes, and perceived appropriateness of alcohol.

OBJECTIVE: Drinking alcohol is frequently portrayed in the media, often overemphasizing its positive attributes. In particular, hip-hop music videos regularly depict alcohol consumption. Building on social cognitive theory, we conduct three pre-registered experimental studies to examine whether textual disclosures from different sources and with varying degrees of explicitness about the consequences of alcohol consumption can influence viewers' alcohol expectancies, attitudes toward alcohol, and the appropriateness of alcohol presentations following a hip-hop video depicting alcohol consumption. METHODS AND MEASURES: We test 1) the established YouTube product placement disclosure, 2) a disclosure that explicitly refers to alcohol and a disclosure that additionally refers to the harmful consequences of alcohol consumption, 3) and finally the role of user comments on YouTube that discuss the negative or positive consequences of alcohol. RESULTS: We found that none of the disclosures tested were able to reduce positive attitudes toward alcohol, positive drinking expectancies, or perceived appropriateness of alcohol portrayals. Instead, one's own drinking behavior was most important in explaining these dependent variables, with frequent drinkers reporting higher scores on attitudes toward alcohol, positive drinking expectancies, and a positive evaluation of alcohol portrayals in the media compared to people who never or rarely drink. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings across the three studies paint a picture of the ineffectiveness of various forms of textual disclosure on alcohol-related attitudes, expectancies, and ratings of the appropriateness of alcohol portrayals in the media. Alternative steps forward, i.e., the creation of offerings for content creators that encourage them to consider the consequences of their representations, are therefore needed.

Communication matters when it comes to adverse events: Associations of adverse events during implant treatment with patients' communication quality and trust assessments.

OBJECTIVES: Because patients' trust in their physicians is a critical factor in improving health outcomes and patient response to adverse events, it is important to analyze the determinants of trust. One of these determinants is patient-centered communication. Because the occurrence of adverse events must be communicated to the patient, we asked whether the perceived quality of patient-physician communication acts as an isolating factor between adverse events and patient trust. METHODS: We proposed and tested a structural equation model linking the occurrence of adverse events to the mediator patient-provider communication quality and to the outcome patient trust. The model was controlled for sociodemographic and health-related factors. We used online survey data from German implant patients (n = 1312), as implant treatment is associated with frequent adverse events such as infections. RESULTS: Our results show that adverse events during implant treatment are associated with small but significantly lower trust levels. Patient-provider communication quality partially mediates this association. CONCLUSIONS: Patient trust does not appear to be immune to deterioration from adverse events. Patient-provider communication plays a role in mitigating this association. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: To improve the quality of care, attention should be paid to how adverse events are communicated in a patient-centered manner.