Table 2.

Health information needs studies of mothers (particularly disadvantaged mothers) in developed countries

Study	Type of study (Number of participants)	Research question*	Results*
[42] Green JM, et al. 1990.	Prospective survey (#825)	How do expectations of childbirth coincide with satisfaction, especially in the realm of feelings of control and adequate information reception on the part of the mother (southeastern England)?	In this study, high expectations did not seem to lead to poor outcomes, and lower expectations seemed to lead to less satisfaction. Women wanted to retain control as much as possible and many reported that greater information given to them by their healthcare providers about what to expect led to a greater feeling of control.
[43] Baker LM, et al. 2007.	Qualitative interviews (#30)	What are the health literacy levels, and information seeking behaviors toward the vaccines given to their children of this group of mothers?	In this very small sample, most of the women were unaware of the purpose of the vaccines their children were receiving (26 of 30). Health literacy levels of this group of Detroit mothers were relatively low, and they tended to receive their information regarding their children’s vaccines from the healthcare provider (22% from doctors, 18% from clinic nurses, the rest from 1–9% from 10 other sources).
[44] Smith SK, et al. 2009.	Qualitative interviews (#73)	How do education levels and health literacy affect people’s information needs and expectations for health decision-making?	In this population from Sydney, Australia, more highly educated/health literate patients seem to take a higher responsibility for making their own decisions regarding health care, whereas less educated patients relied more on health care providers to make decisions to which they would either agree or disagree.
[45] Shieh C, et al. 2009.	Standardized test of health literacy and interview (#143)	How do health literacy levels relate to the use of health information sources and barriers to information seeking in low-income pregnant women in urban Midwestern U.S.?	Higher levels of health literacy were related to a greater ability to use multiple information sources with lower barriers to information seeking. Results suggest that information seeking skills should be taught to patients with lower health literacy. Both the high (85.3%) and low health literacy (14.7%) group used healthcare professionals most frequently (low 90.5%, high 74.6%), with books/brochures (low 57.1%, high 58.2%) and family and friends next most frequently (low 57.1%, high 51.5%).
[46] Shieh C, et al. 2009.	Qualitative interviews (#84)	What are the information seeking behaviors (information needs and barriers) in this population of low-income pregnant women?	In this urban Midwestern U.S. population it was shown that information seeking was highest in those women with the highest needs (asthma and first pregnancy) and the lowest barriers to obtaining information. Also showed that healthcare providers were the highest source of information.
[47] Shieh C, et al. 2010.	Survey and standardized testing (#143)	Do health literacy, positive measures of mother’s fetal locus of control and maternal self-efficacy correlate positively with health information seeking in this Midwestern U.S. population of low-income pregnant women?	Feelings of maternal control toward fetal wellbeing (r=0.27, p=0.003) and self-efficacy (r=0.33, p=0.0004) were positively correlated with maternal information seeking. Health literacy was not (r=−0.05, p =0.63). In this study, low health literacy was correlated with a feeling of lowering self-fetus control, in other words, these pregnant women tended to rely on information from healthcare providers more than women with higher health literacy.

^*See notes regarding research question(s) and results