Kim Smith, Ph.D. North Carolina A&T State University Greensboro, N.C. kcsmith1@ncat.edu 336-334-7900/704-953-3290 http://www.drkimsmith.

com

15 black students from an HBCU and 13 white students from a predominately white university were recruited to learn how they searched for HIV/AIDS information on the Internet. They were given the following hypothetical: Your best friend or a relative has been diagnosed with HIV. Where do you go on the Internet to get health information?

The spread of HIV/AIDS is likely to occur on college campuses where drugs and alcohol abuse can lead to unsafe sex, which can lead to HIV/AIDS infection and transmission (American College Health Association, 2007; CDC, 2003; CDC, 2006). Nearly half of all new HIV/AIDS cases occur in people younger than 25 (CDC, 2002).

Young people spend 7.5 hours a day using some type of electronic device. (Pew). A top online activity for 15-24 year olds is looking up health information on the Internet Healthcare professionals worry about people who make medical decisions from information they find on the Internet or through their mobile devices.

As more people seek out health information on the Internetespecially young people--many are not trained to evaluate the information they find, leading to a number of serious problems. Health information illiteracylacking the ability to evaluate or understand basic health informationcosts the nation $73 billion a year in unnecessary hospitalizations, ER visits and self diagnoses.

Think aloud protocol used to collect the data: Comments were recorded in real time with a tape recorder as they searched. Where they searched was also tracked Survey: About their experience following the Internet activity. Think alouds were transcribed and analyzed Grounded Theory. GT allows theory/model to be built from the ground up based on the data, an inductive process

Students expressed anxiety when the hypothetical was introduced. There was a sense of anticipation related to searching and finding HIV/AIDS information on behalf of a loved one with the disease. Anxiety also associated with students concern about their own health related to HIV/AIDS.

Characterized by the need to find information (learn more about HIV/AIDS). They seemed motivated to find information on behalf of their friend and also on behalf of themselves. Am I in danger, too?

The more anxious students were the more they sought knowledge about the disease. The more they learned about the disease, the greater their anxiety. Interplay went on for about 15-20 minutes

Characterized by the need to find online resources to help their friend and themselves.

TYPES OF HELP SEARCH: Online and offline support groups to deal with emotional, psychological, financial needs and legal concerns Clinical trials Latest medical research Prognosis

17 out of 28 students (61%) had previously looked up health information on the Internet for friends or family members who had been ill. 25 out of 28 students (89%) began their search at a search engine. Google and Yahoo! 11 out of 30 students (39%) began the search at a specific health Web site.

While expressing confidence in their ability to find solid online health information, 96% (27 out of 28) did not use advanced search options to limit their searches. Typing HIV or AIDS into the search engine resulted in millions of hits. They would stare and pick among the first five sites that appeared at the top of the search engine.

The Medical Library Association has compiled a list of the top 10 health Web sites: Cancer.gov (http://www.cancer.gov) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov Familydoctor.org http://familydoctor.org Healthfinder http://www.healthfinder.gov HIV InSite http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu Kidshealth http://www.kidshealth.org MayoClinic http://mayoclinic.com Medem http://medem.com MEDLINEplus http://medlineplus.gov NOAH (New York Online Access to Health) http://www.noah-health.org

Criteria for making it to the MLA list of sites: The must be updated frequently, and the date of the last revision should be clearly posted, Facts should be verified through primary sources found in The professional literature, abstracts or links to those sources, Opinion should be clearly labeled, and Sponsors of the Web site should be clearly identified

http://www.Healthinfo.com http://www.Thebody.com http://www.AIDS.org http://www.cdc.gov (The only match with MLA) http://www.drkoop.com

The Medical Library Association has compiled a list of the top 10 health Web sites: Cancer.gov (http://www.cancer.gov) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov Familydoctor.org http://familydoctor.org Healthfinder http://www.healthfinder.gov HIV InSite http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu Kidshealth http://www.kidshealth.org MayoClinic http://mayoclinic.com Medem http://medem.com MEDLINEplus http://medlineplus.gov NOAH (New York Online Access to Health) http://www.noah-health.org

They ignored search engines initially and began their searches at medical library databases. When they did begin to use search engines, they focused on specific health Web sites. Focused on domain extensions likely to provide quality and updated information

Students depend too much on search engines for looking up HIV/AIDS information No training in how to look up quality health information No attempt to use advanced search options which would help improve searches

Study cannot be generalized to a larger population Provides a baseline for more studies Would the AKH Model emerge in the online search for information about other diseases? Would the model emerge if the researcher could recruit participants who actually had experienced searching for HIV/AIDS information on the Internet? Such a study is wrought with IRB, HIPPA roadblocks.

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