Is the Internet Different from Traditional Mass Media in Promoting Patient Compliance with Mature Treatments?

Through mass media, some patients tend to seek mature treatment-related health information whereas some prefer information related to emerging treatments, which may influence patient compliance, specifically, following the medical diagnoses and treatment regimens. Given that traditional mass media (TMM) and the internet (INT) may promote the publication of different treatment-related information, this study aims to identify the difference between TMM and the INT in influencing patient compliance with mature treatments (PCMTs). Our subjects were Chinese who had received therapies within a month and had experience of seeking health information through mass media. An online survey involving 384 valid responses was conducted to collect data. The confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were adopted to test hypotheses. Both TMM and the INT significantly affect PCMTs, through the mediation of mature treatment-related health information. A provision of mature treatment-related information via TMM can effectively help patients gain awareness and knowledge about treatments. In addition, physicians can update patients' knowledge by making cutting-edge treatments continuously available to patients through the mass media and analyzing patient's access patterns for different treatment-related information.