Consulting the Internet before visit to general practice - Patients' use of the Internet and other sources of health information

Objectives - To describe where patients in Danish general practice get information about health and disease, particularly how patients prepare for a visit to their GP, with special reference to use of the Internet. Design - Structured interviews. Setting - Four Danish general practices. Patients - 93 consecutive patients after visiting their GP. Main outcome measures - The patient's report about use of the Internet and different mass media in preparation for the consultation. Results - Only two patients never looked for health information. Of all patients, 20% had used the Internet to get health information, 8% because of the current visit, i.e. a third of all with Internet access had used it because of the current visit. Women used the sources ofinformation more than men did. Personal contact with family, friends or neighbours was the most commonly used source. Conclusion - The Internet is used in direct preparation for a visit to the general practitioner. The vast majority of patients use the mass media for information. In general practice, the main source of information on a health-related subject is personal contact with family and friends.