Mary Bashshur
Pronouns: She/her
Research Mentor(s): Lenette Jones
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Health Behavior and Biological Sciences / Nursing
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 2 – 11am – 11:50am
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Mary Bashshur, Kayla Anne de Marco, Lenette Jones
Presenter: 73
Abstract
Purpose: To examine the responses of participants in the BRAINS study on our health information behavior scale. Methods: Qualtrics surveys were administered via Zoom to a sample of 99 African American women diagnosed with hypertension. The surveys included the Modes of Health Information Acquisition, Sharing, and Use Scale which was used to examine the responses given by our participants regarding their personal behaviors relating to health information. The Modes of Health Information Acquisition, Sharing, and Use Scale has three subscales: Health Information Acquisition, Health Information Sharing, and Health Information Use scales. Scores were calculated by scoring the items of each scale, with higher scores indicating greater use of a particular information behavior. Results: Responses on the Health Information Acquisition scale ranged from 9 to 35 with a mean of 17.29 (SD=4.67). Responses on the Health Information Sharing scale ranged from 8 to 32 with a mean of 19.42 (SD=5.04). Responses on the Health Information Use scale ranged from 11 to 55 with a mean of 36.45 (SD=8.50). The average participant age in the sample was 52 years old (SD=9.38) and more than one-third of the sample reported that they had earned a Master’s degree (37.08%). Conclusion: Preliminary findings demonstrate that participants are most likely to engage in behaviors that involve the use of health information for the self-management of their hypertension symptoms. Further characterizing these variables and examining how they relate to other variables can potentially provide a valuable foundation for designing more effective health interventions concerning the self-management of chronic disease.
Biomedical Sciences, Interdisciplinary
