August 21, 2008
More Americans Seeking Health Information, Especially on the Internet
In 2007, 56 percent of American adults—more than 122 million people—sought information about a personal health concern from a source other than their doctor, up from 38 percent, or 72 million people, in 2001, according to a national study released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).
Consumers who actively researched health concerns widely reported positive impacts—more than half said the information changed their overall approach
to maintaining their health, and four in five said that the information helped them to better understand how to treat an illness or condition, according to findings from HSC’s 2007 Health Tracking Household Survey, a nationally representative survey containing information on 18,000 people; the survey had a 43 percent response rate.
Use of all information sources rose substantially, but the proportion of Americans using the Internet as an information source grew the most rapidly, doubling from 16 percent in 2001 to 32 percent in 2007, according to the study. Consumers’ use of the Internet for health information is now on par with their use of the more traditional, long-standing sources of books, magazines and newspapers (33%) and friends or relatives (31%), which also increased significantly since 2001.
Across all categories of age, education, income, race, ethnicity and health status, consumers increased their information seeking significantly, but education level remained the key factor in explaining how likely people are to seek health information. In 2007, for example, 72 percent of people with a graduate education sought health information, compared with 42 percent of those without a high school diploma.
The Center for Studying Health System Change is a non-partisan research organization. The study was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The full report is available at http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=33774.
