Table 3 The current and preferred sources of information

Current

(n = 51)

Healthcare professionals ^a

45

[16,17,18, 35, 36, 38,39,40,41, 44, 46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58, 60, 64, 65, 67,68,69, 71, 73,74,75,76,77,78,79, 81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88]

Specialist printed

informational materials ^b

31

[16,17,18, 35, 36, 38, 39, 46,47,48, 50,51,52,53,54, 56, 58, 62, 67, 68, 71, 73, 75, 77,78,79, 82, 83, 85, 86, 88]

Government organizations

/Associations / Support groups ^c

23

[16, 17, 41, 47, 48, 50,51,52,53, 58, 60, 68, 69, 73, 74, 77,78,79, 81, 83, 84, 86, 88]

Other patients

18

[18, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 50, 56,57,58, 65, 68, 69, 71, 74, 79, 83, 87]

Family members/Friends

14

[16, 17, 46, 48, 52, 53, 56, 58, 65, 67, 77, 79, 85, 86]

Broadcast media

(e.g., TV, radio)

7

[16, 38, 51, 56, 58, 79, 86]

Lectures or meetings

3

[39, 40, 88]

Others ^d

3

[53, 65, 67]

General Internet

27

[16, 35, 36, 38, 40, 44, 47, 48, 51, 53, 56, 57, 62, 64, 65, 67, 68, 71, 73, 75, 76, 78, 82, 83, 85,86,87]

Social media

or online communities ^e

20

[17, 18, 38, 43, 46, 47, 50, 52, 56, 58,59,60, 63, 69, 73, 77, 79, 81, 82, 84]

Health Website ^f

16

[37, 43, 45, 46, 50, 52, 54,55,56, 59, 69, 77, 79, 81, 84, 88]

Search engines ^g

9

[17, 18, 46, 50, 55, 59, 69, 74, 88]

Mobile internet services

5

[17, 46, 60, 65, 68]

Preferred

(n = 32)

Face-to-face discussion with HCPs

24

[16, 18, 36, 38, 39, 46,47,48, 50,51,52,53,54, 65, 68, 69, 73, 77, 79, 82, 85,86,87,88]

Search engines

4

[17, 59, 67, 78]

An HCP-guided social media network

2

[55, 60]

Health Website

2

[74, 84]