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Cyberchondriacs and SeniorHealth

Cyberchondriacs Update. Harris Poll® #21, May 1, 2002

Another Harris Poll has just been released regarding consumers using the Internet for health information. Calling these users "cyberchondriacs", the Harris report shows that use of the Internet for getting health information is growing. 110 million Internet users find health information on the Web. That's compared to 54 million cyberchondriacs in 1998. According to the report, the 110 million accounts for 80% of Americans using the Internet regularly. Regardless of whether or not they are regularly online, 50% of Americans have used the Internet for getting health information.

What's more important about this recent study is what it says about how people are getting to health information websites. 53% of users finding health information still use a search engine to find health information. I use the word still because last year's figures were at 52%. What's disheartening is that the percentage of users starting their searches at a health information website is practically unchanged from the previous year (26% for this year compared with 24% for 2001).

What does it mean...

That people are going to search engines shows that they are not identifying with many of the health information sites readily available. What's scary about this is that users may not be assessing the information in relation to the author or provider of the information.

I'm making this claim based on past studies (and past experience with users) which point to users not being able to recall where the information comes from. From the Harris Poll conducted for the Internet Healthcare Coalition "Ethics and the Internet: Consumers vs. Webmasters"

The majority of consumers feel that it is difficult to distinguish between commercial and independent Web sites, identify the source of online information, or determine whether or not the information has been reviewed and approved by experts. More than eight in 10 consumers feel that it is difficult to identify the sponsors or funders of specific sites.

Yes, users have the opportunity to assess and evaluate the health information after they come to the site from a search engine.

But what is worrisome is that users are not using evaluation skills that would help narrow their searches or eliminate searching altogether. Furthermore users are not taking advantage of many sites that compile reliable health information according to an established criteria. Yes, here I speak of MedlinePlus and other directories (sometimes local, sometimes national) and health information portals (sometimes .coms, sometimes .orgs).

It's still our mighty task as information providers and health educators to teach users those evaluation skills. (see previous column for a summary of evaluation initiatives)

Seniors

The Harris report showed users over the age of 65 constitute 25% of adults who have looked for health information online. Other studies show that while seniors may be slow in becoming regular users of the Internet, they spend more time online than other sections of the adult online population.

Across the regions we've heard that seniors are a group eager to be trained in using the Internet and finding health information (see The WISEGuys and CyberSeniors.org). The National Library of Medicine and the National Institute on Aging have created SeniorHealth (http://nihseniorhealth.gov/)

SeniorHealth has health related topics (Alzheimer's Disease, Caring for Someone with Alzheimer's, and Exercise for Older Adults). SeniorHealth was developed for use by seniors. Topic areas are organized by sections; each section is presented in small segments in large typeface. It is similar to the modules in MedlinePlus' Interactive Tutorials but without the audio voice-over. SeniorHealth does not require other plug-ins or special software.

While the scant number of topics may displease some, we should remember that all of NLM's resources start out small but rapidly climb their way up to their bulky goodness. We encourage you to give SeniorHealth a try, refer it to others, and provide feedback through NLM's customer service email address (custserv@nlm.nih.gov).

Javier Crespo, Consumer Health Information Coordinator