Rural adults' use of health-related information online: data from a 2006 National Online Health Survey

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine access and use of health-related information online in rural versus nonrural Internet users, using national data from the 2006 Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Materials and methods: A national telephone survey of 2,928 adults in August 2006 yielded a sample of 1,992 adults who use the Internet regularly. A structured interview was administered to assess frequency of Internet use and access and use of health-related information online.

Results: Most Internet-using rural adults search for health-related information online; two-thirds seek information about specific medical problems and over half seek information about treatment. Three-fifths of rural adults surveyed stated that online health-related information affected the decisions they made in health maintenance and managing treatment of an illness. More than one-third reported being significantly helped by information they found, whereas one-fourth reported being confused. Comparisons between rural and nonrural Internet users suggested that rural users were more likely to seek information about smoking cessation (χ(2)[1, N=1,990]=7.91, p<0.01) and mental health issues (χ(2)[1, N=1,988]=3.71, p=0.05), less likely to seek information about a particular doctor or hospital (χ(2)[1, N=1,983]=15.49, p<0.001), and more likely to report being helped (χ(2)[1, N=1,534]=5.24, p<0.05)-but also confused (χ(2)[1, N=1,592]=9.83, p<0.01)-by information they found.

Conclusions: Rural Americans are increasingly using the Internet to acquire information about chronic disease, mental health, doctors, and treatment options. Priorities should include further development and rigorous evaluation of online resources to ensure high-quality, more direct tailoring of resources to rural families and development of tools to assist consumers in assessing the credibility of online information.