Political ideology, sociodemographic factors, and social media health information engagement among U.S. adults: evidence from HINTS 2024.

Résumé

BACKGROUND: Social media platforms have become increasingly important sources of health-related information for the U.S. public. At the same time, political polarization and sociodemographic inequalities may be associated with how individuals engage with health information on digital platforms. Understanding the relationship between political ideology, socioeconomic factors, and social media health information engagement has important implications for digital public health communication and health equity.OBJECTIVE: This study examined associations between political ideology, sociodemographic characteristics, and multiple dimensions of social media health information engagement among U.S. adults using nationally representative Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 2024 data.METHODS: Cross-sectional nationally representative data from HINTS 2024 were analyzed. Five dimensions of social media engagement were examined, including social media visitation, sharing personal content, sharing general content, interacting with others online, and watching videos on social media platforms. An overall social media engagement index was constructed using the row mean of these measures. Multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted to evaluate associations between political ideology, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and social media engagement behaviors.RESULTS: Age was consistently and negatively associated with all dimensions of social media engagement, including social media visitation ( = -0.025,