Relationship between perceived self-reported trust in health information sources and ocular fixation in a sample of young adults: a secondary data analysis

Abstract Individuals use Internet for health-related issues to gather information and to share experiences and emotional support with other people who have similar medical problems. The easy access to information has sparked heated debate whether this converse urge to seek medical and health advice online is within the benefit of patients. In this research we set out to explore the relationship between self-perceived trust and visual interaction with medical websites, using eye tracking (ET) methods. The individual ocular reaction at 30-second exposure intervals to 20 health-related webpages was studied in 28 gender-balanced young adults by a Pro T60XL monitor device. The results showed a borderline strong statistically significant positive correlation (r = 0.68, p = 0.001) between logo fixations (LAOI) and self-reported trust rank. Websites that were ranked higher in terms of trust appear to be more likely to have a higher number of fixations on the logo. A moderate statistically significant positive correlation (r = 0.526, p = 0.017) was observed between fixations before the logo (FBL) and self-reported trust rank. Logos are a main point of ocular focus and are associated with higher trust. ET proves to be a useful assessment tool of behavioral patterns in searching online information.