Do Adults With Certain Health Conditions Search for Health Information Online?
Fifty-six percent of U.S. adults diagnosed with depression or anxiety have researched a health topic online in the past year, according to a new survey by Forrester Research. The survey found that 55% of adults diagnosed with allergies went online for health information in the past year, while 50% of adults diagnosed with asthma and 45% of adults diagnosed with cancer looked for health information on the Internet in the past year. Thirty-nine percent of adults diagnosed with diabetes researched health information online in the past year, according to the survey. The survey also found that 39% of commercially insured adults have visited their health plan’s Web site in the past year. Twenty-nine percent of commercially insured seniors reported visiting their health plan’s Web site, compared with 40% of Generation Y adults and 42% of Generation X adults. Results are based on a mail survey of 47,599 U.S. adults with Internet access and commercial health insurance coverage.
