Sociodemographic and Psychological Predictors of Seeking Health Information Online among GB2M in Ontario: Findings from the #iCruise Project

David J Brennan; Maya Kesler; Nathan J Lachowsky; Adam Davies; Georgi Georgievski; Barry D Adam; David Collict; Trevor A Hart; Travis Salway; Dane Griffiths

doi:10.1080/19317611.2021.2000087

Sociodemographic and Psychological Predictors of Seeking Health Information Online among GB2M in Ontario: Findings from the #iCruise Project

Int J Sex Health. 2021 Dec 16;34(2):337-350. doi: 10.1080/19317611.2021.2000087. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada.
³ Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada.
⁴ Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada.
⁵ Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.
⁷ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada.
⁹ Gay Men's Sexual Health Alliance, Toronto, Canada.

Abstract

Objectives: The current study examines the experiences of gay, bisexual, two-spirit and other men who have sex with men (GB2M) who use networking applications and their engagements with online sexual health outreach workers disseminating healthcare information through these digital spaces.

Methods: The iCruise study was a longitudinal mixed-methods study across Ontario, Canada which collected data on online sexual health information seeking behaviors.

Results: Results offer insight into differences in information seeking behaviors among diverse groups of queer men.

Conclusions: Implications for the dissemination of health information based on the results of information seeking patterns is discussed as well.

Keywords: Health seeking behaviors; online information dissemination; queer men.

Grants and funding

Funding for this work was supported by the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research and CIHR [grant #144830]. Dr. Brennan’s and Dr. Hart’s work are supported by OHTN Endgame Leadership Chair Awards. NJL is supported by a Scholar Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research [#16863].