Prevalence of south Australia's online health seekers

Objective: To determine the proportion of South Australians accessing online health care information, predictive characteristics of online health seekers, nature of the information sought and consumer behaviour. Methods: A probability-based survey of 3,027 South Australians, aged 15 years and older, as part of the Spring 2000 South Australian Health Omnibus. Results: Internet access decreases with age, while the prevalence of online health seekers is constant (26% to 28%) among people aged between 15 and 54 years. Predictive characteristics of online health seekers include gender, age, education and income. Most commonly sought information is the cause or description of disease (60%). Consumers use online health information as a second opinion (19%), discuss it with their doctor or pharmacist (16%), or change their health care management (11%). Conclusions: The Australian prevalence of online health seekers is likely to be slightly higher than 21%. Implications: The Internet can deliver preventative and clinical health information to a critical mass of Australians, but poorer and older Australians may be unable to access it.