Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Administration Medical Center, Charleston, SC, USA.
Telemed J E Health. 2011 Jun;17(5):329-34. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2010.0195. Epub 2011 Apr 27.
The objective of this study was to examine access and use of health-related information online in rural versus nonrural Internet users, using national data from the 2006 Pew Internet and American Life Project.
A national telephone survey of 2,928 adults in August 2006 yielded a sample of 1,992 adults who use the Internet regularly. A structured interview was administered to assess frequency of Internet use and access and use of health-related information online.
Most Internet-using rural adults search for health-related information online; two-thirds seek information about specific medical problems and over half seek information about treatment. Three-fifths of rural adults surveyed stated that online health-related information affected the decisions they made in health maintenance and managing treatment of an illness. More than one-third reported being significantly helped by information they found, whereas one-fourth reported being confused. Comparisons between rural and nonrural Internet users suggested that rural users were more likely to seek information about smoking cessation (χ(2)[1, N=1,990]=7.91, p<0.01) and mental health issues (χ(2)[1, N=1,988]=3.71, p=0.05), less likely to seek information about a particular doctor or hospital (χ(2)[1, N=1,983]=15.49, p<0.001), and more likely to report being helped (χ(2)[1, N=1,534]=5.24, p<0.05)-but also confused (χ(2)[1, N=1,592]=9.83, p<0.01)-by information they found.
Rural Americans are increasingly using the Internet to acquire information about chronic disease, mental health, doctors, and treatment options. Priorities should include further development and rigorous evaluation of online resources to ensure high-quality, more direct tailoring of resources to rural families and development of tools to assist consumers in assessing the credibility of online information.
本研究旨在使用 2006 年皮尤互联网与美国生活项目的全国数据，考察农村与非农村互联网用户在线获取和使用健康相关信息的情况。
2006 年 8 月，通过全国性电话调查对 2928 名成年人进行抽样，共获得 1992 名经常使用互联网的成年人样本。采用结构式访谈评估其互联网使用频率以及在线获取和使用健康相关信息的情况。
大多数使用互联网的农村成年人会在线搜索健康相关信息；其中 2/3 的人会搜索特定医疗问题的信息，超过一半的人会搜索治疗方法的信息。接受调查的农村成年人中有 3/5 的人表示，在线健康相关信息会影响他们在保持健康和管理疾病治疗方面所做的决策。超过 1/3 的人表示他们从所找到的信息中受益匪浅，而 1/4 的人则表示感到困惑。农村与非农村互联网用户的比较表明，农村用户更有可能搜索戒烟（卡方[1，N=1990]=7.91，p<0.01）和心理健康问题（卡方[1，N=1988]=3.71，p=0.05）的信息，不太可能搜索特定医生或医院（卡方[1，N=1983]=15.49，p<0.001）的信息，更有可能报告他们从所找到的信息中获益（卡方[1，N=1534]=5.24，p<0.05）——但也感到困惑（卡方[1，N=1592]=9.83，p<0.01）——因为他们找到的信息。
美国农村居民越来越多地使用互联网获取有关慢性病、心理健康、医生和治疗选择的信息。应优先考虑进一步开发和严格评估在线资源，以确保高质量、更直接地针对农村家庭定制资源，并开发工具帮助消费者评估在线信息的可信度。
