Background Methodology Current Survey Analysis Copyright Version française

Raw data for the survey May/June 2002
 
Your usage of the medical Internet:
 
You have been using the Internet for: (2621 responses)
Less than 6 months  .. 4.43 %
6 to 12 months  .. 5.57 %
1 to 3 years  ........ 29.07 %
4 to 6 years  ......... 33.19 %
7 years or more  ....... 24.76 %
No response  . 2.98 %
  
and access it mainly with: (2621 responses)
own machine  ..................... 83.33 %
shared machine  .... 12.25 %
No response  .. 4.43 %
from work (2009 responses)
Daily  .................. 68.19 %
Weekly  ... 10.55 %
Monthly  . 1.64 %
Less than once a month  . 0.55 %
Sporadically  . 2.79 %
Rarely  . 3.24 %
Never  .... 13.04 %
  
from home (2417 responses)
Daily  ................... 72.82 %
Weekly  ..... 17.46 %
Monthly  . 1.57 %
Less than once a month  . 0.87 %
Sporadically  . 2.52 %
Rarely  . 1.61 %
Never  . 3.14 %
 
I use the following Internet facilities (2621 responses)
Browsing Web sites  ....................... 90.16 %
Email  ........................ 93.02 %
Newsletter  .............. 54.64 %
List/newsgroup - reading only  ........ 29.99 %
List/newsgroup - as participant  ...... 23.5 %
Other  ....... 25.41 %
No response  . 2.63 %
 
Mostly, I search for: (2621 responses)
Disease Descriptions  ................ 61.92 %
Clinical trials  ........... 41.7 %
Medical literature  ..................... 81.11 %
Support groups  ...... 23.92 %
Not sure  .. 5.57 %
No response  . 3.85 %
 
What type of sites do you go to first? (2621 responses)
Non-profit Organizations  .......... 38.19 %
Support Groups  ...... 20.87 %
Hospitals  ...... 20.49 %
Sites for Medical Professionals  ................. 65.28 %
Sites for Consumers  ........ 31.55 %
Commercial Sites  .... 12.93 %
Pharmaceutical/Medications  ........ 31.13 %
Other  ..... 19.46 %
No response  . 3.36 %
 
In the last 6 months have you sought medical/health information for any of the following persons ? (2621 responses)
Myself  ............... 59.21 %
My condition  ........ 29.87 %
My general knowledge  ............... 58.79 %
My Patient(s)  ........ 28.54 %
My Spouse  ..... 19.69 %
My Child(ren)  ..... 18.28 %
My Parent(s)  .... 15.11 %
My Relative(s)  ..... 19.92 %
My Friend(s)  ....... 27.81 %
Other  ..... 18.05 %
No response  .. 5.04 %

Most important issue facing the Internet
In your opinion, what is the most critical issue facing the Internet and especially the medical Internet? (2621 responses)
Finding information/Navigation  ... 10.99 %
Availability of information  ... 8.85 %
Accuracy of information  ....... 26.33 %
Trustworthiness  ... 11.45 %
Legality of services offered in my country  . 0.42 %
Privacy  . 3.85 %
Government regulation  . 1.34 %
Censorship  . 0.46 %
Commercialisation/Advertising  . 1.95 %
Security of electronic commerce  . 1.34 %
Unsolicited Commercial Email (Spam)  .. 5.38 %
Intellectual property/Copyright  . 1.14 %
Equal access for all  . 3.59 %
Access for disabled or physically impaired  . 1.14 %
Speed/Bandwidth  . 1.95 %
Cost  . 2.21 %
Paying for online services or information  .. 5.11 %
Pornography  . 3.97 %
"Junk" web sites  .. 5.84 %
No response  . 2.71 %

Do you think the certification and/or accreditation of medical Web sites may reduce the issues listed above? (2621 responses)
Yes  .................. 68.26 %
No  ....... 25.41 %
No response  .. 6.33 %
Which of the certifications, accreditations, or trust marks systems below are you familiar with? (2621 responses)
Good House Keeping  ....... 27.51 %
HONcode  ............. 50.25 %
IHC  .. 5.95 %
Netscoring  . 2.98 %
Trust-e  .... 13.35 %
URAC  .. 4.46 %
No response  ........ 29.3 %
 
What type of site is a quality indicator? (2621 responses)
.org  .......... 37.96 %
.edu  ............. 48.07 %
.gov  .......... 38.73 %
.com  .... 15.57 %
Sites for Medical Professionals  .............. 53.76 %
Sites for Consumers  ... 10.19 %
No response  ... 11.56 %
Within the sites you visit, do you advantage the certified ones? (2621 responses)
Yes  ............... 59.1 %
No  ....... 25.3 %
No response  .... 15.6 %

Patients only
I have discussed the results of my Internet searches for medical/health information with my care provider(s) (1318 responses)
Yes  ................ 61.99 %
This is helpful because: (796 responses)
communication is improved  .......... 38.32 %
I become more knowledgable  ................... 73.37 %
consultation is more constructive  .............. 53.89 %
No  ......... 33.76 %
No response  .. 4.25 %
 
I have used on-line medical consultation services offered by Web sites (1318 responses)
Yes  .......... 37.25 %
Occasionally  ................... 75.52 %
Frequently  ....... 24.48 %
No  ............... 57.97 %
No response  .. 4.78 %
 
I engage in e-mail correspondence with my own healthcare provider(s) (1318 responses)
Yes  ...... 21.62 %
Occasionally  ...................... 84.89 %
Frequently  .... 15.11 %
No  ................... 73.44 %
No response  .. 4.93 %
 
I use the Internet to seek second opinions on medical diagnoses (1318 responses)
Yes  ............ 46.97 %
No  ............. 48.03 %
No response  .. 5.01 %
Do you seek out information from medical professional sites, or sections dedicated to medical professionals? (1318 responses)
Yes  .................. 70.11 %
because you prefer having access to more complex info  .................... 77.12 %
because the info you access usually is too basic  ............ 44.98 %
if you do not understand the information you read: (853 responses)
you ask to your physician  ......... 32.47 %
you do alternatives searches to clarify info  ...................... 86.4 %
No  ...... 21.4 %
No response  ... 8.5 %
  
I use the Web to search for information on drugs: (1318 responses)
Yes  .................... 76.71 %
such as (912 responses)
interactions  ................... 72.48 %
side effects  ....................... 91.12 %
generic drugs  .......... 37.5 %
No  ..... 18.06 %
No response  .. 5.24 %
 
I discuss the drug information I find with my care provider(s): (1318 responses)
Yes  ............... 56.83 %
Occasionally  ................... 73.01 %
Frequently  ....... 26.99 %
No  ......... 35.43 %
No response  .. 7.74 %
  
I buy drugs via on-line pharmacy services: (1318 responses)
Yes  .... 12.52 %
from prescription  ................ 63.77 %
over the counter  .......... 36.23 %
No  ..................... 81.87 %
No response  .. 5.61 %

Medical Professionals only
Do your patients discuss healthcare information they have found on the Net with you? (1294 responses)
Yes  .................. 69.47 %
This is helpful because  ............. 49.19 %
This is not helpful because  ... 10.74 %
No response  ........... 40.06 %
 
communication is improved  ............. 49.35 %
patient grows more knowledgable  ............... 57.95 %
patient becomes a better "partner"  ............ 46.62 %
consultation is more constructive  ............. 48.47 %
waste of time  . 2.72 %
creates mistrust  ... 8.28 %
loss of physician control  . 3.59 %
risk of patient self-treatment  ..... 17.97 %
No  ...... 22.18 %
No response  ... 8.35 %


Do you engage in e-mail correspondence with your patients (1294 responses)
Yes  ............. 48.92 %
Occasionally  ..................... 80.07 %
Frequently  ..... 19.93 %
No  ............ 46.45 %
No response  .. 4.64 %

Do you recommend discussion lists to your patients? (1294 responses)
Yes  ........ 31.99 %
No  ............... 58.66 %
No response  ... 9.35 %
 
Do you recommend Web sites to your patients? (1294 responses)
Yes  ................ 62.75 %
No  ......... 32.07 %
No response  .. 5.18 %

Do you recommend support groups to your patients? (1294 responses)
Yes  ............... 56.34 %
No  .......... 36.71 %
No response  .. 6.96 %
 
I use the Web to search for information on drugs: (1294 responses)
Yes  ..................... 83.31 %
such as: (942 responses)
interactions  ..................... 81.42 %
side effects  ...................... 85.99 %
generic drugs  ............. 50.85 %
No  .... 12.6 %
 .. 4.1 %
 
I buy drugs via on-line pharmacy services : (1294 responses)
Yes  ... 9.04 %
from prescription  .................. 71.58 %
over the counter  ........ 28.42 %
No  ...................... 84.23 %
No response  .. 6.72 %

Satisfaction with skills
What are the obstacles you face when using the Web today? (2586 responses)
insufficient IT training  .. 7.73 %
lack of time  ........ 29.39 %
inadequate tools and applications  ... 10.71 %
dissatisfied with information quality  ...... 22.85 %
poor security for medical data  .... 13.07 %
Internet is a low priority in my organisation  .. 5.45 %
No response  ... 10.79 %
 
I prefer the following Internet search tools (2586 responses)
General search tool  ......... 35.89 %
Medical search tool  ........... 41.26 %
No opinion  ..... 19.95 %
No response  . 2.9 %

Indicate the most important characteristic for a search tool (2586 responses)
Ease of use  ... 11.41 %
Speed  .. 7.97 %
Matches  .. 6.07 %
Quality of description  ..... 17.71 %
Relevance of matches  ............ 45.01 %
Overall rating  ... 8.89 %
No response  . 2.94 %

Your profile
Your profession: Medical/Health Professionals (1715 responses)
General Practice  ... 10.9 %
Medical specialty  ........ 30.5 %
General dentist  . 1.52 %
Dental specialty  . 1.57 %
Nurse  ... 9.62 %
Pharmacist  . 2.39 %
Paramedical  . 1.75 %
Med./health student  . 3.15 %
Researcher  .. 5.71 %
Alternative medicine  . 3.32 %
Information provider  ... 9.39 %
Other  ...... 20.17 %
 
Your profession: Non-Medical (1227 responses)
Researcher/ Librarian  .... 12.47 %
Carer for ill person(s)  .. 7.82 %
Information provider  ...... 21.11 %
Patient  ....... 26.24 %
Rather not say  .. 5.22 %
Vision Impaired  . 0.57 %
Hearing Impaired  . 0.41 %
Motor Impaired  . 0.65 %
Cognitively Impaired  . 0.73 %
Not Impaired  . 3.18 %
Other  ...... 21.6 %
 
Your organization is in wich of the following sectors: (2586 responses)
Public (e.g. government)  ...... 22.89 %
Private (e.g. most businesses and individuals)  ........... 40.56 %
Not-for-profit  .... 14.27 %
Don't know  .. 4.72 %
Other  ... 11.29 %
No response  .. 6.26 %
 
Your highest level of education completed: (2586 responses)
Grammar School  . 0.7 %
High School or equivalent  .. 6.42 %
Vocational/Technical School (2 year)  . 3.21 %
Some College  .... 12.84 %
College Graduate (4 year)  ..... 19.99 %
Master's Degree (MS)  ..... 17.4 %
Doctoral Degree (PhD)  ... 10.29 %
Professional Degree (MD,JD, etc.)  ...... 23.01 %
Other  .. 4.6 %
No response  . 1.55 %
 
Your sex: (2586 responses)
Male  ............. 49.92 %
Female  ............. 48.18 %
No response  . 1.89 %

Your age: (2586 responses)
<= 19  . 0.89 %
20-29  ... 11.76 %
30-39  ..... 18.99 %
40-49  ........ 29.31 %
50-59  ....... 24.13 %
60-69  ... 9.32 %
70-79  . 3.09 %
>= 80  . 0.58 %
No response  . 1.93 %

Your location is (2586 responses)
USA  .......... 38.13 %
Canada  .. 4.1 %
Mexico  . 1.47 %
Africa  . 1.39 %
Antarctica  . 0.04 %
Asia  .. 5.99 %
Central America  . 1.16 %
Europe  ........ 28.62 %
Middle East  . 2.2 %
Oceania  . 3.05 %
South America  .. 7.12 %
West Indies  . 0.43 %
Other  .. 4.52 %
No response  . 1.78 %
 
Your primary Language is (2586 responses)
English  ............... 57.04 %
Chinese  . 1.04 %
Danish  . 0.35 %
Dutch  . 1.31 %
French  . 3.75 %
German  . 2.09 %
Greek  . 0.43 %
Hebrew  . 0.15 %
Icelandic  . 0.08 %
Italian  .. 7.04 %
Japanese  . 0.27 %
Korean  . 0.08 %
Norwegian  . 0.15 %
Polish  . 0.27 %
Portuguese  . 2.24 %
Russian  . 0.46 %
Spanish  ... 11.76 %
Swedish  . 0.12 %
Other  ... 8.78 %
No response  . 2.59 %

The area where you live is (2586 responses)
Urban  .............. 53.48 %
Suburban  ........ 28.73 %
Rural  .... 15.7 %
No response  . 2.09 %
 

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  http://www.hon.ch/Survey/Spring2002/res.html Last modified: Wed Sep 28 2005