Many Web Users Look for Medical Advice Online

More Americans use the Internet for health care information than for online shopping or financial advice, according to a new survey released this weekend, Reuters/Wall Street Journal reports (Reuters/Wall Street Journal, 11/27). The Pew Internet and American Life Project conducted telephone surveys of 12,751 adults between March 1 and Aug. 20 to determine how the Internet has influenced people's health decisions. The survey has a 5 percentage point margin of error (Hopper, AP/Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, 11/26). According to the survey, nearly 55% of all Internet users reported looking for online health information, compared to 47% who had shopped online (Reuters/Wall Street Journal, 11/27). Of the "health seekers," 41% indicated that the information they found influenced their decision about visiting the doctor. The survey also found that:

52 million Americans seek online health information at least once a month;
21 million of those health seekers report that their health decisions are influenced by the online information they read;
Health seekers report that they use the Internet more for information when they or someone they know is sick, rather than for preventive medical information;
Most health seekers go to health Web sites for information rather than communicating with providers or insurers (Ward, Dallas Morning News, 11/27).

Just 9% of users had used email to communicate with their physicians, while 10% had filled prescriptions or bought dietary supplements online. Sixty-three percent of health seekers were opposed to keeping medical records online, citing privacy as the main concern (Reuters/Wall Street Journal, 11/27). The survey also found that all racial and ethnic groups are "equally compelled" to search for online health information (Dallas Morning News, 11/27). Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project, said, "In an era when the face time a patient gets with a doctor during an average appointment has dipped below 15 minutes, many are turning to the Web to get the information they crave" (Reuters/Wall Street Journal, 11/27). However, medical ethicist Dr. Fred Grinnell cautioned that online medical information has a "downside." He said, "There will be lots of errors and misleading advertisements. In the end, patients and families will need to exercise the same kind of caution reading material on the Web as they would from any other source" (Dallas Morning News, 11/27).
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