Some 11 years ago, one-quarter of all adults, i.e., 54 million people had gone online to look for health information. Today, the numbers have increased rapidly to some 67% of adults, i.e., 154 million people who had done this. Reports indicate that a large number of users find online health information reliable and many discuss it with their doctors.
Highlights from the report
- 83% of cyberchondriacs said that their search for information online was successful and almost half (45%) say it was “very successful”.
- 87% believe that this information was reliable, and 28% say it was “very reliable”.
- 44% of cyberchondriacs have discussed information they obtained online with their doctors.
- 49% of cyberchondriacs have searched for information online based on discussions they had with their doctors.
Cyberchondriacs Trends: 1998- 2009
Frequency of accessing health information online: 1998-2009
Success in searching for health information online
Reliability of searching for health information online
Have you ever searched for health information online? Are you a cyberchondriac? I know I am!