title: Everyday health communication experiences of college students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The authors examined college students' day-to-day health communication experiences.
  
  
  METHODS
  A convenience sample of 109 midwestern university students participated in the study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The participants completed health communication diaries for 2 weeks, generating 2,185 records. Frequent health topics included nutrition and diet, minor health concerns, risky health practices, and body fitness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 27% of health communication experiences involved the proactive seeking of health-related information or advice. Interpersonal venues (face-to-face, telephone, and e-mail) were evident in about 75% of the records, which were dominated by exchanges with friends and family members. The authors found modest interactions of topic, channel, and purpose.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Congruent with the uses and gratifications theory, the authors found that satisfaction with and perceived impact of health communication experiences varied by topic, channel, relationship, and purpose.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Studies, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. leslie-baxter@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baxter
authors.forename: Nichole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Egbert
authors.forename: Evelyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities