Flynn Kathryn E, Smith Maureen A, Freese Jeremy
Center for Clinical and Genetic Economics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27715, USA.
J Gen Intern Med. 2006 Dec;21(12):1295-301. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00622.x. Epub 2006 Sep 25.
Understanding how and when patients use nonphysician sources of health information is important to facilitate shared decision making within provider outpatient visits. However, little is known about which older adults seek health information on the internet or when.
To determine how patient characteristics are related to seeking health information online and to the timing of these searches in relation to doctor visits.
Six thousand two hundred and seventy-nine respondents (aged 63 to 66 years) who completed the 2004 round of phone and mail surveys (70% response) as part of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study Graduate Sample.
Self-reported use of the internet to search for health information and timing of use.
One-third of respondents had searched online for information about their own health or health care. Half of these searched for health information unrelated to their last doctor visit, while 1/3 searched after a visit, and 1/6 searched before. Among respondents with internet access at home or work, years of education (odds ratio [OR]=1.09, confidence interval [CI]=1.06 to 1.13) and openness-to-experience (OR=1.26, CI=1.16 to 1.36) were positively associated with searching online for health information irrespective of timing in relation to doctor visits. Compared with those who had never sought health information online, sicker individuals (especially those with cancer, OR=1.51, CI=1.14 to 1.99) were more likely to seek information online after a doctor visit. Attitudinal and personality factors were related to seeking health information online before or unrelated to a visit.
There are important differences in the timing of online health information searches by psychological and health characteristics among older adults with internet access.
了解患者如何以及何时使用非医生提供的健康信息，对于在门诊就诊时促进共同决策非常重要。然而，对于哪些老年人在互联网上寻求健康信息以及何时寻求，我们知之甚少。
确定患者特征与在线寻求健康信息以及这些搜索与就诊时间的关系。
6279名受访者（年龄在63至66岁之间），他们完成了2004年一轮的电话和邮件调查（回复率为70%），作为威斯康星纵向研究毕业生样本的一部分。
自我报告的使用互联网搜索健康信息的情况及使用时间。
三分之一的受访者曾在网上搜索过有关自身健康或医疗保健的信息。其中一半人搜索的健康信息与他们上次就诊无关，三分之一的人在就诊后搜索，六分之一的人在就诊前搜索。在在家或工作场所可上网的受访者中，受教育年限（优势比[OR]=1.09，置信区间[CI]=1.06至1.13）和经验开放性（OR=1.26，CI=1.16至1.36）与无论就诊时间如何都在网上搜索健康信息呈正相关。与从未在网上寻求健康信息的人相比，病情较重的个体（尤其是患有癌症的人，OR=1.51，CI=1.14至1.99）在就诊后更有可能在网上寻求信息。态度和个性因素与在就诊前或与就诊无关时在网上寻求健康信息有关。
在可上网的老年人中，根据心理和健康特征，在线健康信息搜索的时间存在重要差异。
