Impact of patient information behaviours in online health communities on patient compliance and the mediating role of patients’ perceived empathy

Patient health information seeking and physician-patient communication in OHCs proved to have impacts on patient compliance, but related studies from psychological perspectives are limited. This study aims to investigate the impact of patient health information seeking and physician-patient communication in OHCs on patient compliance. This study established a research model and proposed six hypotheses. An anonymous investigation was conducted using Chinese OHCs. Confirmatory factor analysis, partial least squares, and structural equation modelling were used to test the hypotheses. We received 371 responses, and 316 of them were valid. Patient health information seeking and physician-patient communication frequency in OHCs had positive impacts on patients' perceived affective and cognitive empathies, which positively impacted patient compliance. Patient compliance can be improved by patient health information seeking and physician-patient communication in OHCs and affective and cognitive empathies. Patients' perceived affective empathy is the preferred perspective to improve patient compliance. Physicians should encourage patients to seek health information and communicate with them through OHCs, be concerned about patients' experiences, feelings, and attitudes, understand patients' demands and mental states, and show their patients that they can feel patients' pain. Increasing physician-patient communication frequency in OHCs can help improve patient compliance.