Disclosure in Online vs. Face-to-Face Occupational Health Screenings: A Cross-Sectional Study in Belgian Hospital Employees

• Main Authors: Jonas Stefaan Steel, Lode Godderis, Jeroen Luyten
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: health screening; honest reporting; disclosure; deception; occupational physician; survey
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1460
• ISSN: 1661-7827; 1660-4601

Replacing or supplementing face-to-face health screening by occupational physicians with online surveys can be attractive for various reasons. However, the (cost-)effectiveness of both depends on employees’ willingness to disclose occupational health problems. This article investigates whether employees show a different willingness to disclose information in online surveys compared to face-to-face consultations with an occupational physician. Employees from four Flemish hospitals were asked whether they would disclose a range of typical occupational health problems to either surveys or physicians. The results were analyzed through chi-square tests and multilevel ordinary least squares regression. Of the 776 respondents, 26% indicated that they did not always disclose health problems. Respondents were more inclined to disclose mental health problems to a survey than face-to-face to a physician, whereas the opposite was true for medication misuse. Being male, younger, with lower educational attainment or lower trust in physicians, taking medication, or having a lower risk on alcohol abuse increased the likelihood of a person withholding information. We conclude that this study provides indications that online vs. face-to-face health check-ups have different strengths and weaknesses in this respect. These must be considered when evaluating the need to use online surveys (instead of, or together with, face-to-face contacts) for health screening.