{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,24]],"date-time":"2026-03-24T06:38:17Z","timestamp":1774334297312,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,30]],"date-time":"2020-11-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1606694400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["AJIM"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,30]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>This paper aims to identify consumers' health information consultation patterns by analyzing information sources to better understand consumers' health information needs and behavior in the context of multisource health information.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>Haodaifu Online, an online health consultation (OHC) website in China, was used as a research data source, and 20,000 consultation cases were collected from the website with Python. After screening and cleaning, 1,601 consultation cases were included in this study. A content analysis-based mixed-methods research approach was applied to analyze these cases.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The results indicate that with the participation of OHC, there are 15 patterns of consumer health information consultation. Besides OHC, health information sources reported by consumers included medical institutions family\/friends and the Internet. Consumers consult on a wide range of health issues including surgical conditions obstetrical and gynecological conditions and other 20 subjects. Consumers have multiple information needs when using OHC: getting prescriptions, diagnosing diseases, making appointments, understanding illnesses, confirming diagnoses and reviewing costs. Through further analysis it was found that consumers\u2019 health information consultation patterns were also significantly different in health issues and health information needs.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study broadens one\u2019s understanding of consumer health information behavior, which contributes to the field of health information behavior, and also provides insight for OHC stakeholders to improve their services.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/ajim-03-2020-0080","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,27]],"date-time":"2020-11-27T03:21:52Z","timestamp":1606447312000},"page":"25-42","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Research on consumers' health information consultation patterns"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"73","author":[{"given":"Dan","family":"Wu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7935-624X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hao","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Shu","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2021010608424405600_ref001","first-page":"27","article-title":"Online medical consultation: a review of literature and practice","year":"2015"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e4","DOI":"10.2196\/jmir.1035","article-title":"Using the internet for health-related activities: findings from a national probability sample","volume":"11","year":"2009","journal-title":"Journal of Medical Internet Research"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"190","DOI":"10.1177\/0145721717697243","article-title":"Understanding challenges, strategies, and the role of support networks in medication self-management among patients with type 2 diabetes","volume":"43","year":"2017","journal-title":"The Diabetes Educator"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref004","first-page":"209","article-title":"Consumer health information demand and delivery: implications for libraries","volume":"84","year":"1996","journal-title":"Bulletin of the Medical Library Association"},{"key":"key2021010608424405600_ref005","volume-title":"The Social Life of Health Information","year":"2011"},{"issue":"8","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1553","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.22691","article-title":"Constructing \u2018sense\u2019 from evolving health information: a qualitative investigation of information seeking and sense making across sources","volume":"63","year":"2012","journal-title":"Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref007","first-page":"1","article-title":"Information in crisis: health and technology-related information behaviors of parents in emergency departments","volume":"53","year":"2016","journal-title":"Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1108\/LHT-04-2017-0074","article-title":"Factors influencing people's health knowledge adoption in social media","volume":"36","year":"2018","journal-title":"Library Hi Tech"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"345","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pec.2012.08.014","article-title":"Health information needs and health-related quality of life in a diverse population of long-term cancer survivors","volume":"89","year":"2012","journal-title":"Patient Education and Counseling"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"119","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijmedinf.2014.10.003","article-title":"An exploratory study of inactive health information seekers","volume":"84","year":"2015","journal-title":"International Journal of Medical Informatics"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"225","DOI":"10.1111\/hir.12181","article-title":"Effects of argument quality, source credibility and self-reported diabetes knowledge on message attitudes: an experiment using diabetes related messages","volume":"34","year":"2017","journal-title":"Health Information and Libraries Journal"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref012","first-page":"48","article-title":"An empirical research on the factors influencing the selection of doctors in online medical websites","volume":"38","year":"2017","journal-title":"Journal of Medical Informatics"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"487","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2648.1996.tb00010.x","article-title":"Information needs and sources of information for women with breast cancer: a follow\u2010up study","volume":"23","year":"1996","journal-title":"Journal of Advanced Nursing"},{"key":"key2021010608424405600_ref014","volume-title":"Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook","year":"2013","edition":"3rd ed."},{"key":"key2021010608424405600_ref015","unstructured":"National Health and Wellness Commission of China (2009), \u201cList of medical subjects in medical institutions\u201d, available at: http:\/\/www.nhc.gov.cn\/fzs\/s3576\/201808\/345269bd570b47e7aef9a60f5d17db97.shtml (accessed 18 June 2020)."},{"issue":"5\/6","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"261","DOI":"10.1108\/00012530310498842","article-title":"The British and their use of the web for health information and advice: a survey","volume":"55","year":"2003","journal-title":"ASLIB Proceedings"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref017","article-title":"Cancer information seeking in social question and answer services: identifying health-related topics in cancer questions on Yahoo! Answers","volume":"21","year":"2016","journal-title":"Information Research"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref018","article-title":"Consumer health information needs: a systematic review of measures","volume":"57","year":"2020","journal-title":"Information Processing and Management"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref019","first-page":"36","article-title":"Gender as an influencer of online health information-seeking and evaluation behavior","volume":"68","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3163\/1536-5050.99.1.001","article-title":"Health information literacy meets evidence-based practice","volume":"99","year":"2011","journal-title":"Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"563","DOI":"10.1007\/s00520-015-2814-6","article-title":"After initial treatment for primary breast cancer: information needs, health literacy, and the role of health care workers","volume":"24","year":"2016","journal-title":"Supportive Care in Cancer"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1207\/S15327752JPA7701_05","article-title":"Assessment of implicit motives with a research version of the tat: picture profiles, gender differences, and relations to other personality measures","volume":"77","year":"2001","journal-title":"Journal of Personality Assessment"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref023","first-page":"1","article-title":"Health information seeking and social media use on the internet among people with diabetes","volume":"3","year":"2011","journal-title":"Online Journal of Public Health Informatics"},{"issue":"10","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1828","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2012.07.022","article-title":"How does searching for health information on the Internet affect individuals' demand for health care services?","volume":"75","year":"2012","journal-title":"Social Science and Medicine"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e137","DOI":"10.2196\/jmir.3298","article-title":"Do cancer patients Tweet? Examining the Twitter use of cancer patients in Japan","volume":"16","year":"2014","journal-title":"Journal of Medical Internet Research"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijmedinf.2007.01.009","article-title":"Medical text-based consultations on the internet: a 4-year study","volume":"77","year":"2008","journal-title":"International Journal of Medical Informatics"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"355","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pec.2016.09.013","article-title":"Forewarned and forearmed: long-term childhood cancer survivors' and parents' information needs and implications for survivorship models of care","volume":"100","author":"ANZCHOG Survivorship Study Group","year":"2017","journal-title":"Patient Education and Counseling"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"561","DOI":"10.1111\/phn.12347","article-title":"E-health and new moms: contextual factors associated with sources of health information","volume":"34","year":"2017","journal-title":"Public Health Nursing"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1108\/eb026702","article-title":"On user studies and information needs","volume":"37","year":"1981","journal-title":"Journal of Documentation"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref030","article-title":"Research on credit evaluation of mobile medical app interactive online consultation service-take Haodaifu App online payment service as an example","volume":"910","year":"2017","journal-title":"Journal of Physics: Conference Series"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref031","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.1080\/10810730.2010.529491","article-title":"Correlates of consumer trust in online health information: findings from the health information national trends survey","volume":"16","year":"2010","journal-title":"Journal of Health Communication"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.1097\/DCR.0b013e3182351eec","article-title":"Assessment of the quality of patient-orientated internet information on surgery for diverticular disease","volume":"55","year":"2012","journal-title":"Diseases of the Colon and Rectum"},{"key":"key2021010608424405600_ref033","first-page":"210","article-title":"Contextualizing consumer health information searching: an analysis of questions in a social Q&A community","year":"2010"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2021010608424405600_ref034","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"911","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.23023","article-title":"Beyond quality and accessibility: source selection in consumer health information searching","volume":"65","year":"2014","journal-title":"Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology"}],"container-title":["Aslib Journal of Information Management"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/AJIM-03-2020-0080\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/AJIM-03-2020-0080\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T23:00:29Z","timestamp":1753398029000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/ajim\/article\/73\/1\/25-42\/513402"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,30]]},"references-count":34,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,30]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/AJIM-03-2020-0080"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/ajim-03-2020-0080","relation":{},"ISSN":["2050-3806"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2050-3806","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,30]]}}}