Direct Observation of Searching for Online Health Information: A Systematic Review of Current Evidence

Abstract

Few studies have been conducted to explore how individuals objectively attempt to retrieve health information using some type of observational method. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to systematically describe and summarize studies employing a direct observational method, and/or video/audio recording program, to examine how individuals actively search for online health information. Eleven articles were found to be acceptable. Overall, studies contained fairly small sample sizes, used mostly college students, and no study explicitly recruited any racial or minority groups. Implications for future research and practice is discussed.