title: Information-seeking behavior of cardiovascular disease patients in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences hospitals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients, as one of the most prominent groups requiring health-based information, encounter numerous problems in order to obtain these pieces of information and apply them. The aim of this study was to determine the information-seeking behavior of cardiovascular patients who were hospitalized in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a survey research. The population consisted of all patients with cardiovascular disease who were hospitalized in the hospitals of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences during 2012. According to the statistics, the number of patients was 6000. The sample size was determined based on the formula of Cochran; 400 patients were randomly selected. Data were collected by researcher-made questionnaire. Two-level descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The data showed that the awareness of the probability to recover and finding appropriate medical care centers were the most significant informational needs. The practitioners, television, and radio were used more than the other informational resources. Lack of familiarity to medical terminologies and unaccountability of medical staff were the major obstacles faced by the patients to obtain information. The results also showed that there was no significant relationship between the patients' gender and information-seeking behavior, whereas there was a significant relationship between the demographic features (age, education, place of residence) and information-seeking behavior.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Giving information about health to the patients can help them to control their disease. Appropriate methods and ways should be used based on patients' willingness. Despite the variety of information resources, patients expressed medical staff as the best source for getting health information. Information-seeking behavior of the patients was found to be influenced by different demographic and environmental factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Library and Information Sciences, School of Medical Management and Information Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zamani
authors.affiliation: Health Information Technology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Soleymani
authors.affiliation: Health Information Technology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Afshar
authors.affiliation: Health Information Technology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shahrzadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Akbar Hasan
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Zadeh
keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Isfahan University of Medical Sciences; educational hospitals; information-seeking behavior