•  
  •  
 

ORCID ID

Dilan Aktepe Coşar: 0000-0002-3567-6057

Hatice Demirağ: 0000-0002-2393-563x

Aynur Cin: 0000-0002-5861-0421

Abstract

Background: Chronic illnesses are long-term, noncommunicable diseases that significantly affect daily life. In addition to physical symptoms, they can reduce quality of life by causing psychological effects such as anxiety and depression. Patients often seek health information to better manage their condition.

Methods: This study aimed to examine the level of health information-seeking behavior among individuals with chronic diseases and the factors influencing this behavior. The sample group for this descriptive study consisted of 306 individuals with chronic illnesses who visited X Hospital in northeastern Türkiye between April 1, 2024, and February 1, 2025. All individuals completed a questionnaire consisting of the Patient Information Form and the Health Seeking Behavior Scale.

Results: The sociodemographic characteristics of patients with chronic diseases, such as education level, marital status, and chronic disease duration, significantly affected the health-seeking behavior scores. According to the research findings, the highest mean score was determined as 12.30 ± 2.62 in the occupational health-seeking subdimension, whereas the lowest mean score was determined as 8.78 ± 3.83 (min – max: 3 – 15) in the traditional health-seeking subdimension. The total mean score of the Health Seeking Behavior Scale was 32.2 7± 7.73.

Conclusions: Individuals with chronic illnesses tend to prefer professional health care services when seeking health-related behaviors. Health-seeking behaviors were higher among high school graduates, single individuals, and those without chronic illnesses.

References

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chronic diseases. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2025.
  2. Shrivastav R, Rawal T, Kataria I, Mehrotra R, Bassi S, Arora M. Accelerating policy response to curb non-communicable diseases: An imperative to mitigate the dual public health crises of non-communicable diseases and COVID-19 in India. Lancet Reg Health Southeast Asia. 2023;10:100132.
  3. World Health Organization. Noncommunicable diseases. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2023.
  4. Aydemir T, Çetin Ş. Kronik hastalıklar ve psikososyal bakım [Chronic diseases and psychosocial care]. J Anatolian Med Res. 2019;4:109–115. Turkish.
  5. Duran ŞB, Keser İ. Kronik hastalıkların tedavi ve bakımında umut terapisinin kullanımı [The use of hope therapy in the treatment and care of chronic diseases]. J Soc Res Behav Sci. 2021;7:147–57. Turkish.
  6. Fine A. Importance of working with clients with chronic illness. Harrisburg: The New Social Worker, 2015.
  7. Akpınar NB, Ceran MA. Kronik hastaliklar ve rehabilitasyon hemşireliği [Chronic diseases and rehabilitation nursing]. Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi. 2019;3:140–52. Turkish.
  8. Hakverdioğlu Yönt G. Kronik hastalıklarda bakım bağımlılığı ile ilgili literatürün gözden geçirilmesi [A review of literature in care dependency in chronic diseases]. İzmir Katip Çelebi Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi. 2023;8:575–8. Turkish.
  9. Aytap F, Özer Z 2021. Kronik hastalığı olan bireylerde depresyon riski ile hastalık öz yönetimi arasındaki ilişki ve etkileyen faktörler [The relationship between risk of depression levels and disease management in individuals with chronic diseases and affecting factors]. Turkish J Fam Med Prim Care. 2021;15:212–22. Turkish.
  10. Shakoori IS, Aslam F, Ashraf G, Akram H. Understanding chronic disease risk factors and multimorbidity. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2020;7:1990–3.
  11. Özdemir D, Arpacıoğlu S. Sosyal medya kullanımı, sağlık algısı ve sağlık arama davranışının koronavirüs korkusu üzerine etkisi [The effect of media usage, health perception, and health-seeking behavior on coronavirus fear]. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar. 2020;12:364–81. Turkish.
  12. Huang M, Zhang H, Gu Y, Wei J, Gu S, Zhen X, et al. Outpatient health-seeking behavior of residents in Zhejiang and Qinghai Province, China. BMC Public Health. 2019;19:967.
  13. Sun X, Luo S, Lou L, Cheng H, Ye Z, Jia J, et al. Health seeking behavior and associated factors among individuals with cough in Yiwu, China: a population-based study. BMC Public Health. 2021;21:1157.
  14. Erdoğan T, Aydemir Y, Aydın A, İnci MB, Ekerbiçer H, Muratdağı G, et al. İnternet ve televizyonda sağlık bilgisi arama davranışı ve ilişkili faktörler [Behavior of searching for health information on the Internet and television and related factors]. Sakarya Med J. 2020;10:1–10. Turkish.
  15. Kıraç R, Öztürk YE. Health seeking behavior: Scale development study. Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Vizyoner Dergisi. 2021;12:224–34.
  16. Cornally N, McCarthy G. Help-seeking behaviour: A concept analysis. Int J Nurs Pract. 2011;17:280–8.
  17. Afşar F, Özkan A. Health literacy and health-seeking behavior of hospitalized patients with chronic diseases. Cam Sakura Med J. 2023;3:19–26.
  18. Bektaş G, Uysal N. Kronik hastalığı olan bireylerde öz yönetim ve sağlık arama davranışlarının belirlenmesi: tanımlayıcı araştırma [Determination of self-management and health seeking behaviors in individuals with chronic disease: descriptive study]. Turkiye Klinikleri J Nurs Sci. 2024;16:207–18. Turkish.
  19. Rasul FB, Sarker M, Yasmin F, De Allegri M. Exploring health-seeking behavior for non-communicable chronic conditions in northern Bangladesh. PLOS Glob Public Health. 2022;2:e0000497.
  20. Wu S, Du S, Feng R, Liu W, Ye W. Behavioral deviations: Healthcare-seeking behavior of chronic disease patients with intention to visit primary health care institutions. BMC Health Serv Res. 2023;23:490.
  21. Sevgi Doğan E, Deniz Akan D, Koşar Şahin C, Dedeli Caydam O, Çınar Pakyüz S. Kronik hastalığı olan bireylerin el yıkama alışkanlıklarının belirlenmesi [Determination of hand washing habits of individuals with chronic disease]. Abant Med J. 2023;12:32–42. Turkish.
  22. Gönen Şentürk S. Kronik hastalıkların yönetiminde öz yönetim stratejilerinin önemi ve hemşirenin rolü [The importance of self-management strategies and the role of nurses in the management of chronic diseases]. Avrasya Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi. 2021;4:9–13. Turkish.
  23. Deniz S, Çimen M. Sağlık arama davranışı üzerine bir araştırma [A study on health-seekıng behavıour]. Uluslararası Sağlık Yönetimi ve Stratejileri Araştırma Dergisi. 2021;7:639–46. Turkish.
  24. Doğanyiğit PB, Demirci HF. The relationship between health cognitions and health seeking behavior. J Int Health Sci Manag. 2023;9:27–34.
  25. Bingöl N, İşcan Ayyildiz N, Aktepe Coşar D. Determining the health-seeking behaviors of people with epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav. 2024;161:110063.
  26. Çın D, Demir E, Şen M, Kılıç Ö, Erol S. Yetişkin bireylerde sağlık arama davranışı, sağlık sorumluluğu ve etkileyen faktörler [Health-seeking behavior, health responsibility, and influencing factors in adult individuals]. Halk Sağlığı Hemşireliği Dergisi. 2024;6:142–151. Turkish.
  27. Şantaş G, Şantaş F, Kaya S. Sağlık okuryazarlık düzeyi ile sağlık arama davranışı arasındaki ilişki: Bir alan araştırması [The relationship between health literacy and health seeking behavior: A field research]. Hacettepe Sağlık İdaresi Dergisi. 2023;26:781–96. Turkish.
  28. Abuduxike G, Aşut Ö, Vaizoğlu SA, Cali S. Health-seeking behaviors and its determinants: A facility-based cross-sectional study in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;9:240–9.
  29. Cizmeci E, Deniz S. Chronically searching online: E-health literacy of diabetes patients and healthy individuals in Turkey. Uluslararası Hakemli İletişim ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi. 2017;15:71–86.
  30. Çankaya A, Filiz E. Yaşlı bireylerin sağlık sistemine güvenleri ve sağlık arama davranışları [Older individuals' trust in the health system and health seeking behaviors]. Balkan Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi. 2024;3:27–48. Turkish.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.