Trust and Credibility in Web-Based Health Information: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

作者：Laura Sbaffi, Jennifer Rowley · 发表于：Journal of Medical Internet Research · 年份：2017 · DOI：10.2196/jmir.7579 · 被引用次数：568 · 研究领域：Health Literacy and Information Accessibility、Knowledge Management and Sharing、Social Media in Health Education

BACKGROUND: Internet sources are becoming increasingly important in seeking health information, such that they may have a significant effect on health care decisions and outcomes. Hence, given the wide range of different sources of Web-based health information (WHI) from different organizations and individuals, it is important to understand how information seekers evaluate and select the sources that they use, and more specifically, how they assess their credibility and trustworthiness. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to review empirical studies on trust and credibility in the use of WHI. The article seeks to present a profile of the research conducted on trust and credibility in WHI seeking, to identify the factors that impact judgments of trustworthiness and credibility, and to explore the role of demographic factors affecting trust formation. On this basis, it aimed to identify the gaps in current knowledge and to propose an agenda for future research. METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted. Searches were conducted using a variety of combinations of the terms WHI, trust, credibility, and their variants in four multi-disciplinary and four health-oriented databases. Articles selected were published in English from 2000 onwards; this process generated 3827 unique records. After the application of the exclusion criteria, 73 were analyzed fully. RESULTS: Interest in this topic has persisted over the last 15 years, with articles being published in medicine, s...