The demand for consumer health information

Using data from an evaluation of a community-wide informational intervention, we modeled the demand for medical reference books, telephone advice nurses, and computers for health information. Data were gathered from random household surveys in Boise, ID (experimental site), Billings, MT, and Eugene, OR (control sites). Conditional difference-in-differences show that the intervention increased the use of medical reference books, advice, nurses, and computers for health information by approximately 15, 6, and 4%, respectively. The results also suggest that the intervention was associated with a decreased reliance on health professionals for information. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.