Knowledge is not always power: Inequality in effectiveness of exposure to health information for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations

Objectives: Passive exposure to health information through mediated channels such as mass media and other non-clinical sources (scanning) has been shown to lead to greater knowledge about and adoption of health behaviors. This study sought to assess the association between scanning health information and respondents self-assessment of their overall health. In addition, this study investigated whether the effects of scanning on self-rated health differed by the audiences socioeconomic status. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional data from the Annenberg National Health Communication Survey, an online cross-sectional general population survey of 17,732 adults who completed surveys between January 2005 and November 2009. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression was used to assess whether health information exposure was associated with self-rated health. Interaction terms were used to assess whether these associations differed by respondents' level of education. Results: Overall, greater information scanning had a small but significant positive association with self-reported health status. The interaction terms showed that while for college graduates the effect of information exposure on self-rated health was positive, there was a significant negative effect for those with less than a college education. Conclusions: Increased exposure to mediated messages promoting health behaviors appears to be less effective at improving self-rated health for less-educated populations compared to those with more education. These factors may contribute to the widening socioeconomic gaps in adaptation of health behaviors. This study highlights the need to explore media campaigns which will be more effective with less-educated audiences