The number of Americans who turn to the Internet to answer questions about health and medicine continues to grow, according to a recent survey.
The Harris poll found 110 million adults -- roughly 80% of those who are online -- search the Web for health information at least sometimes, up from 97 million just 1 year ago and from 54 million in 1998.
These "cyberchondriacs" -- a term used to describe anyone who goes online for health information -- prefer to use search engines that can take them to several different sites, rather than relying on one or two specific sites. Slightly more than half use a portal or search engine, about one quarter go directly to a site, and 12% call up a general site that focuses on many topics, such as Yahoo or AOL, that may include a section on health issues.
On average, American adults search for health information three times a month, according to the survey.
The findings reflect the trend among doctors to recommend that patients search the Web for medical information. The survey also indicates a desire among adults to use the Internet to fulfill a variety of health needs.
The survey included 707 adults age 18 and older who were interviewed by telephone between March 13-19, 2002.
Adults who surf the Internet for health information tend to be younger, better educated and more affluent than adults in the general population, according to the survey. For instance, cyberchondriacs include more than 80% of people ages 18 to 30, 84% of those with postgraduate education and 77% of individuals with household incomes over $75,000.
Harris Poll April 27, 2002
It is quite clear that the vast majority of health care professionals are not aware of the profound significance the Internet has had on our culture. It is a revolution happening right before their eyes and they are blind to it.
Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press around 1450 is widely thought of as the origin of mass communication. It marked Western culture's first viable method of disseminating ideas and information from a single source to a large and far-ranging audience. The printing press may have been the single most important cause of the massive social, political and psychological changes it is associated with.
The Internet will have, in my estimation, more influence than the implementation of the printing press did over 500 years ago. We are no longer tied to the influence of the traditional media. We all have the ability to go out and "search the Net" for the truth.
The ability to do this exists right now, unfortunately you have to be quite skilled to do it and it is very difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff for most people.
Many patients are very frustrated with e-health. It's the great mother of all libraries, but it is not a place they can do transactions such as make appointments, refill prescriptions and ask follow-up questions.
I am planning to help change that with my site and in the next few months you will see some major changes pushing towards this direction. I have four full time programmers working on three highly innovative technologies that will help you and the Internet transform the medical paradigm as we know it today.
Folks, this is going to be quite a ride. Just keep posted.