title: Online Health Information Seeking in Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Information gathering is a key component of shared decision making and has a measurable effect on treatment decisions. Access to health information might improve quality of care in hand surgery. Our purpose was to identify socio-demographic, condition-related, and psychosocial factors associated with online information-seeking behavior in patients with hand and upper-extremity conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  From June 2015 to February 2016, we enrolled 134 patients with an upper-extremity condition who presented to an outpatient hand surgery office at an urban level I trauma center in this cross-sectional study. Participants provided socio-demographic information and completed online questionnaires assessing their online information-seeking behavior, pain intensity, symptoms of depression, and pain interference, and an upper extremity-specific, patient-reported outcome measure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 57 patients (43%) sought information regarding their condition online before their visit. Compared with patients with no online information-seeking behavior, patients who sought information online were more educated. Psychosocial and condition-related factors were not associated with online information seeking. In multivariable analysis, education in years and involvement of the dominant upper limb were independently associated with online information-seeking behavior.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Education in years and involvement of the dominant upper limb were independently associated with online information-seeking behavior but psychosocial and condition-related factors were not.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As health information seeking is becoming an integral part of the modern day clinical experience, efforts to make online information more appealing and useful to people of all education levels are merited.
authors.affiliation: Hand and Upper Extremity Service, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Sezai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Özkan
authors.affiliation: Hand and Upper Extremity Service, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Jos J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mellema
authors.affiliation: Hand and Upper Extremity Service, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nazzal
authors.affiliation: Hand and Upper Extremity Service, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Sang-Gil
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX. Electronic address: david.ring@austin.utexas.edu.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ring
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001134:Arm Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006230:Hand Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D008297:Male; D008490:Medical Informatics; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057234:Preoperative Period; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Information seeking; hand surgery; pain intensity; upper-extremity function