Context in Health Information Retrieval: What and Where

Researchers are aware that context affects information retrieval in general. The health area is no exception and is particularly rich in terms of context. To understand how context is used in health information research, we collected a sample of health information research papers that use context features. Papers were analyzed and classified according to the type of context features and to the stage of the retrieval process into which they were incorporated. Further, we also identified the specific context features used in each category of features and each stage of the process. Results show a weaker use of interaction context features than we expected and, as supposed, a large use of collective features. A considerable number of papers use context to query related activities. We also found that research is mainly aimed at health professionals, suggesting a gap in health consumers research that should be explored.