title: Examination of the mass media process and personal factors affecting the assessment of mass media-disseminated health information.
abstract: This study examined the mass media and personal characteristics leading to health communication inequality as well as the role of certain factors in health communication's mass media process. Using both sociodemographic variables and Maletzke's model as a basis, we investigated the relationship between selected components of the mass communication process, the receiving of reliable health information as a result of health communication, and the condition of its use. The study involved 1853 people in Turkey and was structured in two parts. The first part dealt with questions regarding sociodemographic characteristics, the use of the mass media and the public's ability to obtain health information from it, the public's perception of the trustworthiness of health information, and the state of translating this information into health-promoting behaviours. In the second part, questions related to the mass communication process were posed using a five-point Likert scale. This section tried to establish structural equation modelling using the judgements prepared on the basis of the mass media model. Through this study, it has been observed that sociodemographic factors such as education and age affect individuals' use of and access to communication channels; individuals' trust in and selection of health information from the programme content and their changing health behaviours (as a result of the health information) are related to both their perception of the mass communication process and to sociodemographic factors, but are more strongly related to the former.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey drkavci@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Kadriye
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Avcı
authors.affiliation: Afyon Vocational School, Department of Marketing and Advertising, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
authors.forename: Tülin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Çakır
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Communication, Department of Radio Television and Cinema, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Zakir
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Avşar
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hanife
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Üzel Taş
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D058015:Health Communication; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011584:Psychology; D011786:Quality Control; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: health communication; health promotion; mass media