Chen Liu
ABSTRACT
This study conducts a systematic review of literature on online health consultation (OHC) from 2 major databases, and then iteratively identifies themes in the literature using a content analysis process. A total of 129 studies met the inclusion criteria. The reviewed articles are divided into four themes according to an integrated classic doctor-patient communication model. The most commonly concerned theme in OHC research is Process (n=60, 47%), which includes Instrumental Behavior (n=22), Affective Behavior (n=22), and other behaviors (n=16). The second concerned theme is Outcome (n=35, 27%). Within this theme, Patient Outcome (n=26) gains much more attention than Doctor Outcome (n=9). The remaining themes are External Structure (n=16, 12%) and Internal Structure (n=18, 14%). Finally, a systematic framework is proposed to illustrate the current state of the research and guide future research.
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Index Terms
- Online health consultation: A systematic review for future research directions
Index terms have been assigned to the content through auto-classification.
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