The Growing Influence and Use of Health Care Information Obtained Online

NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The influence of the Internet on health care and the practice of medicine continues to increase.  In the late 1990s Harris first used the word "cyberchondriacs" to describe the people who go online for health care information.  The latest Harris Poll finds that three quarters (74%) of all adults have gone online at some time to look for health information, and that 60% have done so in the previous month. These numbers have not changed significantly since last year but they are much higher now than they were a few years earlier.  However there have been increases since the two previous polls in 2009 and 2010 in the numbers of people who say they do this often, who say that their searches were successful, that the information they found was reliable, that they discuss this information with their doctors, and who have searched for information because of a discussion with a doctor.

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These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 1,019 adults surveyed by telephone between August 9 and 15, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

Some of the most interesting findings in this poll, which all point to the growing importance of online information to patients, include:

• The proportion of people who are online who report that they "often" look for information about health topics on the Internet has increased to 39%, up from 22% in 2009, and 32% in 2010;
• Majorities of cyberchondriacs use search engines (69%) and medical websites (62%) to look for health information online;
• The proportion of cyberchondriacs who say that their searches were very or somewhat successful has increased to 90% this year, up from 83% in 2009 and 86% in 2010;
• Cyberchondriacs who say that they believe the information they obtained was reliable has risen to 90% this year from 87% and 85% in the two previous years;
• Fully 57% of cyberchondriacs report that they discussed information obtained online with their doctors, up from 44% and 53% in the last two years; and,
• Cyberchondriacs who report that they searched online for medical information based on discussions with their doctors has increased to 57% from 49% in 2009 and 51% in 2010.

So what?

As the influence of the Internet as a valued source of health care and medical information continues to grow, all stakeholder groups including the health care industry, medical societies, NGOs and  government agencies need to work hard to ensure that they are providing the public with relevant, user-friendly and reliable information.

Methodology

This Harris Poll® was conducted by telephone within the United States between August 9 and 15, 2011 among 1,019 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, number of adults in the household, number of phone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

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The Harris Poll® #98, September 15, 2011
By Humphrey Taylor, Chairman, The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American and European offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

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SOURCE Harris Interactive