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Objective·To understand the status quo, influencing factors and action paths of health information seeking behavior in elderly patients with chronic diseases. Methods·From October 2020 to September 2021, five hundred and two elderly patients with chronic diseases in Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine were selected by objective sampling method. General Information Questionnaire, Health Literacy Management Scale (HeLMS), Chronic Disease Self-Efficacy Scale (CDSES), Health Information Seeking Behavior Scale were used. IBM SPSS 26.0 software and Mplus 8.3 software were used for statistics analysis. Results·The total average score of health information seeking behavior of elderly patients with chronic diseases was (3.30±0.40) points. The univariate analysis showed that different ages, residence, education, incomes, types of medical insurance, comprehensibility of health information, credibility of health information, self-efficacy, health literacy, and seeking health information for family members had statistically significant differences (all P<0.05). The path analysis results showed that comprehensibility of health information, self-efficacy, health literacy, education, credibility of health information, residence, type of medical insurance, income, and seeking health information for friends and families can directly affect health information seeking behavior, and the direct effects was 0.479, 0.225, 0.197, - 0.197, 0.154, 0.145, - 0.119, - 0.085, 0.070 (all P<0.05). Income, comprehensibility of health information, and health literacy can indirectly affect the health information seeking behavior of elderly patients with chronic diseases through the credibility of health information, and the indirect effects were -0.036, 0.033, 0.032 (all P< 0.05). Conclusions·The current status of health information seeking behavior among elderly patients with chronic diseases is poor. The most important influencing factor is the understandability of health information, and the main influencing factors are health literacy, self-efficacy, education, credibility of health information, residence, type of medical insurance, income, and seeking health information for friends and family. It is suggested that medical staff should understand the characteristics and influencing factors of health information seeking behavior, strengthen the assessment of health information seeking behavior, and implement timely intervention measures to improve health information seeking behavior of elderly patients with chronic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]