Media-Based Health Information Seeking Behaviors Among Latinx Populations in the United States

Abstract

To inform health communication efforts for Latinx communities, we assessed health information seeking behaviors to media sources, healthcare providers, and family/friends among a purposive sample of Latinx adults in 2021 using recruitment quotas by ethnic origin and age. Participants (N = 1,574) self-completed an online cross-sectional survey using their own digital devices. The survey assessed mental and physical health information scanning and seeking across Spanish-language, Latinx-tailored English-language, and general English-language media as the primary outcomes of interest and seeking to healthcare providers and family/friends. Logistic regression models generated predicted probabilities for all health information seeking outcomes, adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Overall, Latinx adults in the study sample were most likely to scan health information on TV and social media and seek health information on social/Internet-based media. In terms of language/cultural media usage, the highest probability was general-English media followed by Latinx-tailored and Spanish-language media. U.S.-born Latinx adults reported higher probabilities than foreign-born across all outcomes. In sum, Latinx populations, especially U.S.-born, are likely to consume high levels of diverse language/cultural media for health information. Social/Internet-based media and family/friends supersede healthcare providers as sources of health information, particularly for mental health content and among the foreign-born sub-sample. Scrutiny of how diverse language/cultural media disseminates information, decides what content to disseminate, and engages diverse audiences is needed to promote health equity.