|
THE HARRIS POLL #11,
February 17, 1999
EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OF A NEW BREED OF
"CYBERCHONDRIACS"
60 million adults searched the Web for health care information
last year.
- 91% found what they needed.
- Depression, cancer, allergies, bipolar disorder, arthritis, high
blood pressure, migraine and anxiety disorder top the list of diseases they are interested
in.
|
_________________________________________________________________
by Humphrey Taylor
Sixty million people searched the World Wide
Web for health care information in the last twelve months. The growth of the Internet .
arguably the fastest growing new technology in history . has generated explosive growth of
people who search the Web for healthcare information related to specific diseases. We call
these people "cyberchondriacs."
Altogether 68% of the people on-line say they used
the Web in the previous twelve months to look for "healthcare information related to
any particular disease or medical condition." Other Harris data show that the on-line
population (from home, office, school or elsewhere) has risen to 44% of adults (i.e.
eighty-eight million people). "Cyberchondriacs," who use the Web to search for
healthcare information, therefore account for 68% of those eighty-eight million or 60
million adults.
These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll
of 1,009 people who were surveyed on-line between January 8 and 11, 1999. The survey was
based on the new Harris Poll Online methodology which uses the world. s largest
consumer panel (over 2.5 million adults). The data were weighted to ensure they represent
the entire on-line population.
The value and success of the Web is remarkable; nine
out of every ten (91%) of these people say that the last time they searched the Web for
health care information, they found what they wanted.
The diseases which generate the greatest use of the
Web are depression (19% of cyberchondriacs), allergies or sinus (16%), cancer (15%),
bipolar disorder (14%), arthritis or rheumatism (10%), high blood pressure (10%), migraine
(9%), anxiety disorder (9%), heart disease (8%) and sleep disorders (8%).
Many Web sites contain multiple linkages, but the
sites people believe they referenced most often were those of medical societies (40%),
patient advocacy group or support groups (32%), pharmaceutical companies (20%) and
hospitals (16%).
If people had visited more than one of these sites,
they found the most helpful ones belonged to medical societies (36%), and patient advocacy
or support groups (32%).
The scale of these numbers is staggering.
Furthermore, other data suggest that rates of Web utilization are increasing much faster
than the amazing growth of the on-line population -- which has increased from 9% to 44% of
all adults over the last four years. Not only are more people going on-line; they are
doing so much more often.
Humphrey Taylor is the Chairman of Louis Harris &
Associates, Inc.
NOTE:
- The data in this on-line poll were weighted by region, sex, age,
education, race/ethnicity, income and Internet usage to be representative of the total
on-line population (90 million people).
- Based on telephone surveys of 2,000 adults in November/December 1998,
Harris estimates that 44% of all adults are on-line, at home, in the office, or in
a school, library or other locations.
TABLE 1
USED WEB TO LOOK FOR HEALTH CARE INFORMATION?
Base: All adults on-line
(Estimated by Harris to be 88 million people)
"In the last twelve months, have you ever used
the Web to search for, or look at, health care information related to any particular
disease or medical condition?"
TABLE 2
DID YOU FIND WHAT YOU NEEDED?
Base: Used Web to search for health care information
"The last time you did this, did you find what
you thought you needed on the Web or not?"
|
Used Web
%
% |
| Yes, found |
91 |
| No, did not find |
8 |
| Don't know/Refused |
1 |
TABLE 3
WHAT DISEASE WERE YOU INTERESTED IN?
Base: Used Web to search for health care information
"The last time you used the Web to look for
health information, which particular disease or diseases were you interested in?"
| |
Used
Web |
| |
% |
| Depression |
19 |
| Allergies or Sinus |
16 |
| Cancer |
15 |
| Bipolar disorder |
14 |
| Arthritis/Rheumatism |
10 |
| High blood pressure/hypertension |
10 |
| Migraine |
9 |
| Anxiety disorder |
9 |
| Heart disease |
8 |
| Sleep disorders |
8 |
| Asthma |
6 |
| Thyroid disorder |
6 |
| Diabetes (Type 2) |
6 |
| Alzheimer. s |
6 |
| Chronic back problems |
5 |
| Fibromyalgia |
5 |
| Diabetes (Type 1) |
5 |
| Chronic fatigue syndrome |
5 |
| Impotence |
4 |
| Multiple Sclerosis |
4 |
| Crohns disease/Ulcerative colitis |
4 |
| Chronic lung disease |
3 |
| Lupus |
3 |
| Epilepsy |
3 |
| Endometriosis |
2 |
| AIDS/HIV |
2 |
| Gout |
2 |
| Ulcers/heartburn |
2 |
| Liver disease |
2 |
| Lou Gehrig. s disease |
2 |
| Psoriasis |
2 |
| Sciatica |
2 |
| Muscular dystrophy |
2 |
| Dysmenorrhea |
1 |
| Incontinence |
1 |
| Osteoporosis |
1 |
| Schizophrenia |
1 |
| Stroke |
1 |
| Parkinson. s disease |
1 |
| Lactose intolerance |
1 |
| Pituitary disease |
1 |
| Other |
43 |
| No answer |
3 |
TABLE 4
WHOSE WEB PAGES DID YOU LOOK AT?
Base: Used Web to search for health care information
"The last time that you used the Web to look for
this kind of information, can you remember if you looked at Web pages put out by any
organization in the following list? [Check all that apply]"
IF MORE THAN ONE ANSWER ASK:
"On the Web pages you referenced, which one
organization. s web page was most helpful?"
|
Used
Web
% |
Most
Helpful If 2 or more Categories Used)
% |
A pharmaceutical or drug company |
20 |
15 |
A hospital |
16 |
11 |
A medical society |
40 |
36 |
A patients. advocacy or support group |
32 |
32 |
None of the above/Other |
26 |
6 |
METHODOLOGY
The data in this Louis Harris poll was conducted
January 8 to 11 among a nationwide cross section of 1,009 on-line adults. Computer users
were drawn from our panel of 2.5 million on-line adults and invited to by E-mail to
participate in the poll at a web site. The results were weighted to include region, sex,
age, education, race/ethnicity, income and Internet usage and to be representative of the
total population (90 million) on-line in the United States.
Based on telephone surveys of 2,000 adults
conducted in November and December of 1998, Harris estimates 44% of adults are on-line at
home, in the office, school, library or other locations. In theory, with a sample of this
size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision
of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population
had been polled with complete accuracy.
_________________________________________________________________
Q1100-1140
|
Print
