Ryan-Claytor Cayley
Department of Sociology and Criminology, Pennsylvania State University, 601 Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2025 Jul;376:118071. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118071. Epub 2025 Apr 15.
The proliferation of the internet as a widely accessible repository of health information has sparked theoretical and empirical concerns about its potential use as a replacement for traditional healthcare services. Existing research highlights how use of the internet as a health information resource has influenced individuals' experiences in healthcare settings, but has not yet explored its relationship with use of healthcare services. Using data from the National Health Interview Survey, I find a significant positive association between use of the internet to seek health information and visits to traditional healthcare providers. This association is not explained by factors related to respondents' social and demographic characteristics, health status, or access to health services. This relationship is strongest among adults aged 18-39, suggesting that younger adults may be more inclined than their older counterparts to address health concerns using both the internet and traditional medical services. In line with Fundamental Cause Theory, the relationship is strongest among the highly educated, such that individuals with a Bachelor's degree are more likely than their peers to use both the internet and traditional healthcare services as health resources. This study provides evidence in favor of the hypothesis that U.S. adults - and especially young adults with college degrees - are largely using the internet as a complement to the information and services provided by traditional medical providers, rather than a replacement.
互联网作为一个广泛可及的健康信息库不断扩散，引发了关于其可能替代传统医疗服务的理论和实证担忧。现有研究强调了将互联网用作健康信息资源如何影响个人在医疗环境中的体验，但尚未探讨其与医疗服务使用之间的关系。利用来自国民健康访谈调查的数据，我发现利用互联网寻求健康信息与拜访传统医疗服务提供者之间存在显著的正相关关系。这种关联无法用与受访者的社会和人口特征、健康状况或获得医疗服务的机会相关的因素来解释。这种关系在18至39岁的成年人中最为强烈，这表明较年轻的成年人可能比较年长的成年人更倾向于同时利用互联网和传统医疗服务来解决健康问题。与根本原因理论一致，这种关系在受过高等教育的人群中最为强烈，即拥有学士学位的人比同龄人更有可能同时将互联网和传统医疗服务用作健康资源。这项研究为以下假设提供了证据支持：美国成年人——尤其是拥有大学学位的年轻人——在很大程度上是将互联网用作传统医疗服务提供者所提供信息和服务的补充，而非替代品。
