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BUSINESSNew survey finds fewer patients searching onlineHowever, the patients who do turn to the Internet for health information tend to be highly educated.By Tyler Chin, AMNews staff. April 14, 2003. Only 16% of adult Americans -- mostly the highly educated -- seek health information online, according to a recent survey contradicting previous research that pegged that number higher. In March, the Center for Studying Health System Change released a survey that found that fewer than one out of six adults, or 30 million people, sought health information about a personal concern to them within the previous year. Overall, 38% of adults, or 72 million people, sought health information from a source other than their physician. In other words, more Americans turn to books, magazines, newspapers, friends and relatives than to the Internet for health information, according to this survey. "Use of the Internet for health information is not nearly as pervasive as many people believe," said study co-author Ha Tu, a health researcher at HSC, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit health care policy research organization. About 62% of adults responding to this survey said they stuck with their doctor's advice only and did not seek health information from any other source. Those who did seek information from other sources tended to have a college degree, Tu said. HSC findings contrast with other surveys. The Pew Internet & American Life Project pegged the number of health Internet users at 70 million adults. Harris Interactive, a Rochester, N.Y.-based polling organization, put the number at 110 million. Several factors could explain the huge gap between their findings, the three organizations say, including how the questions were phrased. [...]Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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