Skip to main content

Table 5 Barriers to accessing and/or using health research or information

From: Exploring how members of the public access and use health research and information: a scoping review

 

No. of studies

Study number

Barriers relating to the characteristics of the source (channel, format) (n = 24)

Language

 - Information not in preferred language (including national, local and sign languages)

 - Information not available in formats suitable for the visually impaired

 - Terminology / language used by or in channel is difficult to understand

17

[19, 20, 22, 23, 32, 38, 45, 88, 106,107,108, 116, 118,119,120, 127, 136]

Channel* availability

 - Expense of channel or cost of using channel

 - Preferred channel does not exist for specific condition or concern

 - Preferred channel (e.g. healthcare professional, pharmacist) is not easily available

11

[19, 20, 31, 32, 45, 72, 112, 116, 118, 121]

Quantity, quality and tone of information

 - Too much information is given

 - Information is too general, not explicit

 - Information is too impersonal

 - Information is inadequate, outdated or irrelevant

6

[19, 31, 45, 72, 94, 105]

Credibility—Channel is not trusted

1

[140]

Barriers related to the characteristics of the health research or information seeker (n = 12)

Individual lacks personal resources that would enable effective health research or information access and usea

8

[19, 45, 69, 72, 106, 111,112,113]

Individual’s health or other physical characteristicsb

2

[26, 107]

Age or other characteristic restricts access to sources of health research or informationc

2

[94, 118]

Lack of awareness of sources of HRI on given condition/health topic

1

[19]

Barriers related to the nature of the condition for which health research or information is desired (n = 3)

Condition is stigmatising or may lead to discrimination, concerns about disclosured

3

[31, 32, 130, 130]

Other barriers (n = 7)

Reluctance to search for information from fear it could be distressing

3

[69, 113, 131]

Inability to determine the quality of information of the source /poor info evaluation skills

3

[20, 32, 72]

Poor experiences with healthcare profession in the past

1

[140]

  1. *Channel means the medium e.g. journal, website, radio programme, etc.
  2. aThis includes lack of technical or other skills, language, information retrieval, literacy, health literacy and time
  3. bThis may include, for example, visual impairment, deafness or limb amputation
  4. cFor example, restricted access to internet among youth by parents, or reliance on family members to access preferred channel
  5. dFor example, HIV/AIDS, depression, puberty, menstruation
Back to article page

BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

Contact us