Health Information Seeking Behaviours during COVID-19 among Patients with Hypertension in Selangor

Abstract

Patients' access to healthcare settings has been restricted to contain the spread of COVID-19, such as altering their health information-seeking behaviors, but this has not been documented among hypertensive patients. This study explored how patients obtain health information about hypertension during COVID-19. Face-to-face and online interviews were employed, and a semi-structured questionnaire was used to guide the interview. Two major themes emerged about the information sources: interpersonal and online. Patients seek health information from family members, healthcare professionals, friends, and online platforms. This study demonstrates that patients continue to seek health information during Pandemic COVID-19 to ensure that their hypertension remains under control. Keywords: Health Information; Hypertension; COVID-19; Malay eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, UniversitiTeknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i19.3209