Journal of Health & Medical Informatics

A Mini Review of Patients’Access to Health Information in China

Abstract

Mingwei Liu and Yinhuan Hu

The purpose of this review is to briefly examine published articles regarding patients’ access to health information in China. The searching was performed on the PubMed using MeSH words such as “consumer health information, health literacy, health education and drug information service”. After preliminary screen, the contents were categorized as present situation, obstacles and future perspectives. In conclusion, patients now rely more on alternative access to health information to complement doctor consultation. Traditional alternative sources suffer low timeliness, credibility and efficiency. Though the current boom of online health information is promising, low quality of information, unequal access and poor design features have become obstacles for further development. In the future, Chinese authority and professional institutions will support the construction of search websites able to provide authentic health information. Training programs of health literacy will be employed universally, and pharmacist counselling will be well received.