Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

Date of this Version

Summer 1-10-2021

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The continuous spread of Hepatitis B and C Viral diseases have affected over 248 million people worldwide. Despite the frustrations expressed regarding patients information needs, awareness and knowledge about the mode of contact of the disease, information access and use, studies addressing hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) patients information needs and seeking behaviour are lacking. This paper examines the relevance of comprehensive model of information seeking (CMIS) in addressing hepatitis B and C patients’ information behaviour, to ascertain the trend of use to inform the future applications of the model. Four databases were searched for articles published between 1993 and 2020. Findings indicated that out of 571 documents identified, 66 full texts documents were eligible while 19 articles were included for the scoping review. Contrary to the opinion of some critics regarding the inability of CMIS to predict information seeking, majority of CMIS users found the antecedent factors suitable to influence information-seeking behaviour, followed by the likelihood of information carrier factors to predict information seeking. Majority of studies used quantitative method while a limited number of studies applied mixed-methods for investigations. The scoping review identified gaps in the literature addressing HBV and HCV patients’ information seeking, scarcity of African researchers using CMIS model and a limited number of CMIS publications in LIS source and subject domain. Nevertheless, the scoping review presents practical and theoretical implications. The information specialists need to explore the variables of CMIS model in further studies, the African region, specifically in the South African context.

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