Digital Pulse - Ch 2 - Sec 3 - Generation Rx.com: How Young People Use the Internet for Health Information

Summary

The authors have noted that while extensive studies have been conducted on how adults utilize the Internet to access consumer health information, very little research has been done on the ways in which youth use the Internet for health enquiries. Little was known about how often youth were utilizing the Internet for health searches, about which topics they were making enquiries, about the influences on their behaviour and about their impressions concerning the veracity and reliability of the information that they were receiving. This report resulted from a Kaiser Family random dial survey conducted during September-October 2001. Its findings revealed that youth used the Internet extensively for searches regarding their own health, indeed, even more frequently than older generations. Often this was because of the anonymity afforded to them by Internet searches, even though they would still prefer to access information from more traditional (and more reliable) sources such as doctors and educational health programmes. The study also found that Internet filters designed to block pornography had an impact on their searches for health information.

Key Points

The study found that among all 15-24 year olds, an overwhelming majority (90%) have been online. Of that amount, some 68% have gotten health information online while a quarter (24%) have gotten “a lot” of health information online. The study found that 75% of online youth have used the internet at least once to find health information, this is more than the proportion who have ever gone online to check sports scores (46%), buy something (50%), or participate in a chat room (67%), and about the same proportion that have used the internet at least once to play games (72%), or download music (75%).

Of the 75% that are “online health seekers” 39% look up health information at least once a month or more. 39 % also find that the health information that they find online is “very useful”, while only 1% found it to be “not at all useful'. The topics that youth are investigating in their online searches was of particular interest is this study and the authors note that the subject matter differs from adult health seekers. Not surprisingly, many young people (84%) consider sexual health issues [including AIDS, STDs and pregnancy] to be “very important” for their age group, followed in priority by drug and alcohol abuse and sexual assault issues. These priorities are reflected in the health issues young people are searching for online, with 44% saying that they have looked up information on pregnancy, birth control, HIV/AIDS and other STDs. Racial and gender influences play a significant role in the nature of inquiries, those most likely to enquire about AIDS include; African American youth (45% v. 26% of whites) and females (34% v.25% of males).

A powerful statistic drawn from this survey was that among online health seekers, 39% say that they have changed their behaviour because of health information that they got online. African Americans were even more likely to report changing their behaviour (52%) than others. 69% also said that they have talked with friends about health information that they have seen online. This clearly indicates that the Internet has the potential to be a powerful tool for the dissemination of health information. This is despite the relative scepticism that young people have in the information they are receiving. Only 17% say that they would trust health information that they got from the web “a lot” although an additional 40% said they would trust this information “somewhat.”

The most important factor for young people when they are searching for health information is confidentiality, with 82% saying that this is very important. Other important considerations include being able to ask specific questions, being able to find the information easily and being able to hear different sides of an issue.

The other important focus of this study was the relationship between health searches and inadvertent discovery of pornography and the impact of filters on youths' ability to find the information that they are looking for. Health seekers were found to be somewhat more likely to stumble across pornography than other online youth owing to the high prevalence of searches relating to sexual health. While a majority were (55%) were “not too” or “not at all” upset by stumbling across this material, an even larger majority (65%) nevertheless felt that being exposed to online pornography could have serious impact on those under 18. Among 15-17 year olds who access the Internet at school, 76% said that filtering or blocking technology was in place there. It must be noted that in 2000, the US Congress passed legislation requiring all schools and libraries that receive federal funding to install some type of filtering or blocking technology. 67% of all youth surveyed said that they favoured this law. The impact however, is that among 15-17 year olds who have sought health information online, 46% say that they have experienced being blocked from non-pornographic sites during their searches.[1]

In concluding, the authors of this study suggest that the time has come to focus more attention and study on the role of the Internet as a health educator. Young peoples' interaction with these sources of information are qualitatively different from those of adults, and attention needs to be given to the topics being sought, to the quality of the information being found, and to the role of search engines in shaping what information is found.

Source: “Generation Rx.com: How Young People Use the Internet for Health Information”, Pub. # 3202 (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, D.C.) December 2001.

1. For a more in-depth review of the impact of filtering technology on online health searches see: Richardson, Caroline & Resnick, Paul. “See No Evil: How Internet Filters Affect the Search for Online Health Information”, Pub. # 3294 (Henry J. Kaiser FamilyFoundation, Washington, D.C.) December 2002.

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