May 2002

More Americans Seek Health Info Online

New York - The number of Americans who turn to the Internet to answer questions about health and medicine continues to grow, according to a recent national 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 one year ago, and from 54 million in 1998, Reuters Health reported.

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 America Online, which may include a section on health issues.

On average, American adults search for health information three times a month, according to the survey.

The survey included 707 adults age 18 and older who were interviewed by telephone between March 13-19 of this year. 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.

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