{
  "abstract": "Background: While digital platforms have become central sources of health information, important questions remain regarding how much users trust different sources, and if differences in preferences exist among countries.\n\nMethods: We conducted representative online surveys in Austria (AT), Germany (DE), and Switzerland (CH) between summer and autumn 2025. Inhabitants ≥15 years were invited to participate. Surveys were done in German and, in CH, also in French and Italian. A total of 6091 participants (AT: 2089, DE: 2002, CH: 2000) completed the questionnaire. This analysis describes the trust of participants in health information consumed via different online sources and potential regrets about health decisions taken based on these.\n\nResults: In all three countries, rankings for trust per source were identical with highest trust expressed for health information portals (rated as rather trustworthy or trustworthy; AT: 94%, DE: 94%, CH: 92%), and lowest for social media (AT: 38%, DE: 23%, CH: 38%). The same pattern was visible regarding regrets, where social media inflicted the highest rates of regretted health decisions (rated as yes; AT: 17%, DE: 11%, CH: 20%), and websites of acknowledged health information portals the lowest (AT: 8%, DE: 3%, CH: 12%). Regression modelling of the data from all 3 countries revealed that frequent use (Odds ratio [OR] = 1.9, 95%CI = 1.4-2.5), male gender (1.4, 1.1-1.8), and low educational level (1.9, 1.3-2.8) significantly increased the likelihood of reporting regret on a health decision taken based on social media.\n\nConclusions: While the pattern in trust and regret is largely similar across AT, DE, and CH, the share of participants having experienced regret regarding a health decision taken from digital health information is surprisingly high, especially from social media content. These findings highlight the need to strengthen critical digital health literacy and to improve the quality and trustworthiness of digital health information.\n\nKey messages: • The ≥15 year old population in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland expressed highest trust in digital health information from health information portals, and lowest in information from social media.\n\n• While patterns are largely similar across countries, the share of participants having experienced regret regarding a health decision taken from digital health information is surprisingly high.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "abstract",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "SM De Gani"
    },
    {
      "name": "D Kohlbrenner"
    },
    {
      "name": "R Griebler"
    },
    {
      "name": "F Saxinger"
    },
    {
      "name": "M Nitsch"
    },
    {
      "name": "E Flaschberger"
    },
    {
      "name": "D Schütze"
    },
    {
      "name": "I Münch"
    },
    {
      "name": "S Schmidt-Kaehler"
    },
    {
      "name": "E Alder"
    },
    {
      "name": "F Gille"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6es1zpwjmphka.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.793",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13699762/",
  "id": "6es1zpwjmphka",
  "issns": [
    "1101-1262",
    "1464-360X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.793",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "5. Poster Walks"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/MED00860"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC01210"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC02610"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3600|Health Literacy and Information Accessibility"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223665003",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13699762/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13699762",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Oxford University Press",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6es1zpwjmphka.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:19Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13699762",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.793"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:44Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13699762",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13699762"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [],
  "title": "Trust in digital health information in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland",
  "title_text": "Trust in digital health information in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:36:17Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6es1zpwjmphka",
  "venue": "The European Journal of Public Health",
  "versions": []
}