A84.
Rice, R.E. (2005).
Influences, usage,
and outcomes of Internet health information searching: Multivariate
results
from the Pew surveys. International
Journal of Medical
Informatics, 75(1), 8-28.
This
article provides results from seven major nationally representative
datasets
(two in detail) from the Pew Internet and American Life Project to
answer two
primary questions: (1) What influences people to seek online health
information, and (2) what influences their perceived outcomes from
having
access to this information?
Cross-tabulations, logistic regressions, and
multidimensional scaling are applied to these survey datasets. The
strongest
and most consistent influences on ever, or more frequently, using the
Internet
to search for health information were sex (female), employment (not
fulltime),
engaging in more other Internet activities, more specific health
reasons (diagnosed with new health problem,
ongoing medical condition, prescribed new medication or treatment), and
helping another deal with
health issues. Internet health seeking
is consistently similar to general Internet activities such as email,
news,
weather, and sometimes hobbies. A
variety of outcomes from or positive assessments of searching for
Internet
health information are predicted most strongly by sex (female),
engaging in
other Internet activities, Internet health information seeking
including more
frequent health seeking, more specific health reasons, belonging to an
online
support group sharing health interests, and helping another deal with
an
illness or major health condition.
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