Health via the Internet
By Ruth SoRelle, M.P.H.
If you find yourself surfing the web for health information, be reassured that you are in the majority. A recent poll by the nonprofit Pew Internet Project found that 80 percent of the U.S. Internet users (an estimated 113 million adults) have searched out health information on the Web.
That percentage has remained fairly stable over the past four years that the Pew project has been surveying, said researcher Susannah Fox, but what has changed is the diligence with which readers check the sources and timeliness of the information. In fact, according to the report issued, only 15 percent of Internet health surfers always checked the source and date of the health information they found online while 10 percent reported checking most of the time.
The rest – 75 percent – said they only sometimes, hardly ever or never checked those statistics. In 2001, one-fourth of the health surfers said they checked the source and date always and one-fourth said they did most of the time. That means that 50 percent rarely or never checked. The report notes that the websites themselves might be at fault, citing a recent federal study that finds just four percent of frequently-visited health websites disclosed the source of their information and only two percent gave information on its timeliness.
In the buyer-beware era of the Internet, it is important to look at source and date. As research is updated, information and advice can change. It is important to know who is giving the advice. Do they have the credentials to be giving the advice? On what information are they backing their advice?
While most people in the Pew report felt that Internet information can be helpful, three percent or three million reported knowing someone who had been harmed by following online tips.
As the Internet increasingly becomes a source of health information, it is important to consider its source. Many medical schools such as Baylor College of Medicine have publications like this one that provide current health tips. Nonprofit organizations such as the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association are also good places to look for information on health problems.
If you read a news article about a particular study or finding, think about going to the source of that information online. Some journals will let you see the entire article while others give you access to at least the abstract. That can often give you the straight information on what the test was and what was actually found.
The Internet gives you the opportunity to do some of the research on health yourself. It is up to you to use that opportunity responsibly. The Pew Internet Project study shows that many people take advantage of that. It is important that they protect themselves as well.
If you want to learn more about the report, check it out yourself at http://www.pewinternet.org./pdfs/PIP_Online_Health_2006.pdf.
