title: Fall-related Information seeking behavior of seniors on the web.
abstract: Falls form a major health problem for older persons, and increasingly strain the healthcare system. The Internet is a potentially useful platform for empowering seniors. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the information-seeking behavior about falls among elderly Internet users. A web-based survey was distributed among all members of an association of elderly people (&gt; 60 years old). Fallers and non-fallers, seniors with and without experience with information seeking and the willingness of elderly for undertaking self-assessment tests on the Internet versus solely receiving information about falls were compared. In general, there was much stated interest in receiving information about conditions and medications that increase the risk of falls and information on safety in the house. Around half of the 62 respondents did not feel that they are well-informed about falls. Searching for fall-related information was not significantly associated with having falls in the previous 12 months (OR 2.11, CI: 0.55-8.16). The majority expressed higher interest in receiving fall-related information than undertaking a self-assessment test. However, only a small proportion had searched for this information already.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: Marjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Askari
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: Saied
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eslami
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Medlock
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: Sophia E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: de Rooij
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: Ameen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abu-Hanna
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000379:methods*; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D057220:Health Literacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires