Predictors of cancer information overload: findings from a national survey

Introduction. We explore predictors of information overload among cancer information seekers who reported having suffered from information overload. These persons were characterized by socio-demographic characteristics, health status, health information and communication environment and behavioural, cognitive, and affective cancer information seeking. Method. A secondary analysis was performed of the 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey conducted by the U.S. National Cancer Institute with 6,369 randomly selected participants. A subset of this dataset, which includes the responses of 3,011 cancer information seekers, was analysed. A bivariate analysis was used to identify factors significantly associated with information overload. These factors were then entered in a logistic regression model to identify predictors of overload. Results. Lower socio-economic status, poor health, low media attentiveness and high affective components of information seeking were associated with overload. The strongest predictors were education level and cognitive aspects of information seeking, which indicates that overload is strongly predicted by health information literacy skills. Use of the Internet and high media attentiveness, two factors usually thought to cause overload, were found not to be associated with overload. Conclusion. The findings emphasize the importance of health information literacy in coping with information overload and implies the need to design better health information campaigns and delivery systems.