Recently the Pew Internet Project and California HealthCare Foundation released the findings of an extensive national survey revealing that 80% of Internet users look online for health information. While that figure may not be surprising it is useful to look at the areas of search themselves.
The following are some key items from the report:
- 24% of internet users look online for information about drug safety or recalls.
- 19% of internet users look online for information about pregnancy and childbirth.
- 17% of internet users look online for information about memory loss, dementia, or Alzheimer’s.
- 16% of internet users look online for information about medical test results.
- 14% of internet users look online for information about how to manage chronic pain.
- 12% of internet users look online for information about long-term care for an elderly or disabled person.
- 7% of internet users look online for information about end-of-life decisions.
Symptoms and treatments continue to dominate internet users’ health searches.
- 66% of internet users look online for information about a specific disease or medical problem (perennially in the top spot).
- 56% of internet users look online for information about a certain medical treatment or procedure.
- 44% of internet users look online for information about doctors or other health professionals.
- 36% of internet users look online for information about hospitals or other medical facilities.
- 33% of internet users look online for information related to health insurance, including private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.
- 22% of internet users look online for information about environmental health hazards.
The most likely groups to look online for health information include:
- Adults who, in the past 12 months, have provided unpaid care to a parent, child, friend, or other loved one
- Women
- Whites
- Adults between the ages of 18-49
- Adults with at least some college education
- Adults living in higher-income households
By contrast, fewer than half of adults in the following groups in the U.S. look online for health information:
- African Americans
- Latinos
- Adults living with a disability
- Adults age 65 and older
- Adults with a high school education or less
- Adults living in low-income households ($30,000 or less annual income)
However, young people, Latinos, and African Americans are increasingly likely to use mobile devices to gather information, which could potentially shift the patterns among those groups when it comes to using health information resources.
About the Survey
This report is based on the findings of a daily tracking survey on Americans’ use of the internet. The results in this report are based on data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International between August 9 and September 13, 2010, among a sample of 3,001 adults, age 18 and older.