Exploring the health information-seeking practices of breast cancer patients in a middle-income country with a diverse ethnic population: a cross-sectional investigation

Seeking health information is an important step for cancer patients to understand their condition and facilitate treatment. It also helps them deal with the unknown and aid in recovery. Therefore, it is vital to understand the factors that drive health information-seeking behavior. This study aims to achieve that objective in a localized context by surveying 421 breast cancer patients in an urban teaching hospital. The patients were presented with a 5-point questionnaire that explored their demography, health status, information-seeking behavior, and literacy level. The prevalence of health information-seeking initiatives reported was 60%. Patients with higher education (OR 3.31; 95% CI (1.39-7.87), p = 0.01), having their own business or were self-employed (OR 4.68; 95% CI (1.03-21.24), p = 0.046), and in a Medium 40 (M40) income level (OR 2.31; 95% CI (1.09-4.88), p = 0.03) and Top 20 (T20) level were more likely to seek health information. The mean e-Health Literacy Score (eHEALS) was 28.01 ± 5.0, with healthcare professionals having the highest level of trust (mean 4.22 ± 0.79) and most useful resource score (mean 4.21 ± 0.78). Even though Google was the most popular online search tool used by respondents, most of them seldom (23.77%) or had never (34.34%) discussed the online information they found with healthcare professionals. In conclusion, it is still best for patients to appraise the sought-after information with experts to avoid misinformation and treatment delay.