Survey: More Hit the Net for Data

HDM Breaking News, September 8, 2008

Fifty-six percent of American adults surveyed during the first nine months of 2007 sought information on a personal health concern from a source other than their physician, according to survey results recently released.

Of those who sought outside information, 32% used the Internet, double the rate of a similar survey done in 2001. The Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington conducted telephone surveys of 9,400 households on a variety of health issues and collected information on 18,000 adults.

Other avenues for obtaining non-physician health information among survey respondents included books, magazines and newspapers (33%); friends or relatives (31%); TV and radio ads (15%); and other sources (5%).

Eighteen percent of surveyed elderly adults used the Internet last year to get health information, up from 7% in the 2001 survey. For more information, click here.

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:

• Consumer Health
• Health Information Exchange
• Web Technology
• Hospitals
• Group Practices
• Payers