Cotten Shelia R, Gupta Sipi S
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2004 Nov;59(9):1795-806. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.02.020.
Increasing number of individuals are using the internet to meet their health information needs; however, little is known about the characteristics of online health information seekers and whether they differ from individuals who search for health information from offline sources. Researchers must examine the primary characteristics of online and offline health information seekers in order to better recognize their needs, highlight improvements that may be made in the arena of internet health information quality and availability, and understand factors that discriminate between those who seek online vs. offline health information. This study examines factors that differentiate between online and offline health information seekers in the United States. Data for this study are from a subsample (n = 385) of individuals from the 2000 General Social Survey. The subsample includes those respondents who were asked Internet and health seeking module questions. Similar to prior research, results of this study show that the majority of both online and offline health information seekers report reliance upon health care professionals as a source of health information. This study is unique in that the results illustrate that there are several key factors (age, income, and education) that discriminate between US online and offline health information seekers; this suggests that general "digital divide" characteristics influence where health information is sought. In addition to traditional digital divide factors, those who are healthier and happier are less likely to look exclusively offline for health information. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the digital divide and the patient-provider relationship.
越来越多的人通过互联网来满足他们的健康信息需求；然而，对于在线健康信息搜索者的特征以及他们与从线下渠道搜索健康信息的人是否存在差异，我们知之甚少。研究人员必须研究在线和线下健康信息搜索者的主要特征，以便更好地认识他们的需求，突出在互联网健康信息质量和可获取性方面可能做出的改进，并了解区分在线和线下健康信息搜索者的因素。本研究考察了美国在线和线下健康信息搜索者之间存在差异的因素。本研究的数据来自2000年综合社会调查中的一个子样本（n = 385）。该子样本包括那些被问及互联网和健康搜索模块问题的受访者。与先前的研究类似，本研究结果表明，大多数在线和线下健康信息搜索者都表示依赖医疗保健专业人员作为健康信息的来源。本研究的独特之处在于，结果表明存在几个关键因素（年龄、收入和教育程度）可以区分美国的在线和线下健康信息搜索者；这表明一般的“数字鸿沟”特征会影响健康信息的搜索地点。除了传统的数字鸿沟因素外，那些更健康、更快乐的人不太可能只在线下寻找健康信息。我们将从数字鸿沟和医患关系的角度讨论这些发现的意义。
