Users Play Doctor Dot-Com
Looking for health information online is an activity that falls only slightly behind using e-mail and researching products.
With a full 80 percent of American Internet users searching for at least one of 16 health topics online, the activity is only slightly behind using email (93 percent) and researching products (83 percent). The Pew Internet & American Life Project estimates that as of the end of 2002, roughly 93 million Americans were “health seekers” – Internet users who search online for information on health topics whether they are acting as consumers, caregivers, or e-patients – marking a significant increase from March 2000 when 54 percent indicated that they looked for health information online.
The information-gathering has been helpful, as 73 percent of health seekers say the Internet has improved the health information and services they receive. With 87 percent of the nearly 2,000 respondents claiming to be living with a chronic illness or disability, online resources could help them become well-informed patients.
Women are more apt to search most of the Pew-identified topics, particularly when related to a specific disease or medical problem – 72 percent vs. 54 percent. However, the men take the lead in the areas of sexual health information (12 percent compared to 9 percent); problems with drugs and alcohol (9 percent compared to 8 percent); and information on how to quit smoking (7 percent vs. 5 percent).
| What Are Health Seekers Looking For? | |
|---|---|
| Health Topic | Internet Users Who Have Searched for Info on It |
| Specific disease or medical problem | 63% |
| Certain medical treatment or procedure | 47% |
| Diet, nutrition, vitamins, or nutritional supplements | 44% |
| Exercise or fitness | 36% |
| Prescription or over-the-counter drugs | 34% |
| Alternative treatments or medicines | 28% |
| Health insurance | 25% |
| Depression, anxiety, stress, or mental health issues | 21% |
| A particular doctor or hospital | 21% |
| Experimental treatments or medicines | 18% |
| Environmental health hazards | 17% |
| Immunizations or vaccinations | 13% |
| Sexual health information | 10% |
| Medicare or Medicaid | 9% |
| Problems with drugs or alcohol | 8% |
| How to quit smoking | 6% |
| Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project | |
The majority of health seekers are likely to be well-educated, broadband-using veterans, with 6 or more years of online experience, and although the majority of the overall online population has conducted health searches, only 6 percent seek information on a typical day. Comparatively, 49 percent of surfers use email on a typical day, 19 percent research a product or service, and 5 percent make an online purchase.
“Health searches are not an everyday activity for most Americans,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project. “But we have noticed that once an Internet user has been successful in an online endeavor, she will return to it the next time she has a similar problem or question, no matter how much time has lapsed between the searches.”
Since January 2003, Hitwise recorded 14 percent growth in U.S. visits to health and medical Web sites, and their analysis found that visitors spent an average of 6 minutes and 21 seconds per session during June 2003.
| Top U.S. Health & Family Resources Destinations, June 2003, Home and Work |
||
|---|---|---|
| Brand or Channel | Unique Audience |
Time Per Person (hh:mm:ss) |
| eDiets.com | 4,758,000 | 0:08:01 |
| MSN WomenCentral | 4,419,000 | 0:03:44 |
| WebMD | 4,235,000 | 0:12:28 |
| AOL Health | 3,803,000 | 0:11:01 |
| MSN Health with WebMD | 3,782,000 | 0:05:36 |
| Drugstore.com | 2,568,000 | 0:09:41 |
| Weight Watchers | 2,564,000 | 0:29:34 |
| AOL Parenting | 2,556,000 | 0:03:54 |
| MyFamily.com | 2,404,000 | 0:14:11 |
| Source: Nielsen//NetRatings | ||
Hitwise also found that most visitors to health and medical sites were female (61 percent vs. 39 percent), in the 35-to-44 age range (over 25 percent), and from a household that earned more than $75,000 per year (nearly 38 percent). Access occurred from home, rather than the office, by nearly 2-to-1.
