Searching Online for Health Information

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By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA

Internet activities go beyond using it to check your email, making online purchases, managing your online banking, playing games or updating your status in the social networking circles.

80% of internet users search online for health information.

According to Pew Internet and American Life Project: [Source]

• 85% of U.S. adults use the internet.
• 85% of U.S. adults own a cell phone, 53% of whom own Smartphones.
• 80% of internet users or 59% of U.S. adults look online for health information.
• 31% of cell phone owners and 52% of Smartphone owners have used their phone to look up health or medical information.
• 66% of internet users look online for information about a specific disease or medical problem.

The most commonly searched topics are:

• Specific diseases or conditions–66% of internet users look online for information about a specific disease or medical problem.
• Treatments or procedures–56% of internet users look online for information about a certain medical treatment or procedure.
• Doctors or other health professionals-44% of internet users look online for information about doctors or other health professionals.

To help you identify which health topics are being searched for online from a popular health and wellness social media platform, we asked Sharecare.com, created by Jeff Arnold (founder WebMD) and Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Here is a list of the top 20 most searched health topics on Sharecare.com for 2012:

1. Diet and Nutrition
2. Wellness
3. Dental and Oral Health
4. Skin and Nail
5. Beauty and Personal Care
6. Heart and Circulatory System
7. Pharmacology
8. Digestive Health
9. Fitness and Exercise
10. Cancer
11. Infectious Disease
12. Alternative Medicine
13. Health Care Basics
14. Pain
15. Bone Joint and Muscle
16. Brain and Nervous System
17. Mental Health
18. Endocrine System
19. Women’s Health
20. Diabetes

Your turn

What  type of health information do you search for online?  What are some of the health topics?  Which health sites do you favor?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. As always, thank you for your valuable time.

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Full Disclosure–Barbara Ficarra is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, health educator and health advisor at Sharecare.com.

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Sources

Pew Internet & American Life Project, Commentary: Pew Internet Health by Susannah Fox, Nov 13, 2012  http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2011/November/Pew-Internet-Health.aspx

Pew Internet & American Life Project, Health Topics by Susannah Fox, Feb 1, 2011 http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/HealthTopics/Summary-of-Findings/Food-safety.aspx

Sharecare.com http://www.sharecare.com/

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