• by Masha Geller , June 1, 2003

Consumers and advertisers have long debated the merits of healthcare, pharmaceutical and other related advertising in traditional media, and any agreement is a long way away, but a breakthrough study featured in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) sheds light on a topic central to the evolving practice of health care - the extent to which consumers are using the Internet to supplement traditional sources of health guidance.

The survey was conducted by Knowledge Networks, and the data were analyzed by researchers at Stanford University and the Department of Veterans Affairs, with funding from the National Institute on Aging, Stanford University, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The study shows that 40% of those with Internet access have used the Web to look for health-related advice or information; and, within that group, over half reported that the Internet has improved their understanding of symptoms, conditions, or treatments. Other well-known studies have yielded significantly higher levels for similar questions, creating a potentially exaggerated impression of the Internet's impact on health care activities.

The projectable Knowledge Networks panel is based on an RDD sample that represents both Web users and non-users throughout the U.S. Most Internet research, by contrast, utilizes "opt-in" groups of Web users only.

The authors of the JAMA article state, "One possibility is that the samples used in these [other] studies overrepresent individuals who are particularly enthusiastic about the Internet and who might be both more likely to use it for health information and more willing to participate in surveys about it."

In terms of traditional health-care metrics, only 6% of Knowledge Networks respondents who reported health-related Internet use said the Web has impacted the number of times they have visited a doctor, and 5% or less have used the Internet to obtain prescriptions or pharmaceutical products.