Despite internet trust to the attending physician

Health information from the internet is mostly used for questions to the doctor

07/14/2012

In times of the Internet, many patients already inform themselves about their complaints and feared illnesses on relevant health pages before a visit to a doctor. Many doctors are afraid of the partial knowledge of the patients. However, there is no reason for that, as a US study found. On the contrary, there are rarely disputes between the doctor and the patient. Provide the information read in advance „in most cases more useful than harm“, as surveyed by the University of California.

Patients catch up on the Internet about symptoms and diseases
In the US, the Internet is the most common source of health information for laymen. „Are patients who inform themselves on the Internet about their supposed ailments, more distrustful of the diagnoses and treatment instructions of their doctors?“ This question was investigated by the scientist Xinvi Hu from the University of California in Los Angeles. In her study report in the journal "Journal of Health Communication", the researcher and her team report that pre-information from the Internet often brings more benefit to the doctor-patient relationship than it could harm. The overwhelming majority of patients do not question the medical profession's competence, as shown by the results of the survey study.

For the study, the research team surveyed about 500 patients who are more or less regularly informed on special websites on the topic of health. For the survey, the participants were provided with an online questionnaire with a processing time of 25 minutes. Afterwards all answers were evaluated and calculated.

It turned out that most of the interviewees on the Web specifically search for medical information with the help of search engines. Another part also communicates in online forums with other patients about their respective symptoms and diseases.

Patients ask questions arising from online self-search
Of all the subjects, 70 percent said that they would ask their doctor questions that arose from self-research on the Internet. 40 percent said they would also print the information from websites to use them as a basis for discussion at the doctor's meeting. „Most of the acquired articles were not used by those affected to question the doctor's abilities“, explained the researcher. Rather, it has been confirmed that patients are now more concerned with their health problems and also use the Internet offensively.

"Therefore, doctors do not have to be scared or go on the defensive when their patients appear with printed information for consultation," the scientist reassures the doctors. Home and specialist doctors should be more pleased if patients have already gained basic knowledge and know what it is all about. „Most respondents intend to ask their doctor questions via the Internet, often referring to online clinical resources“, so the final summary.

Although the Internet has become a major source of information, its positions vis-à-vis physicians would also be confirmed by patients using other sources such as books, science magazines or friends and acquaintances to learn about illness. Again, the information is used to ask the doctor further questions. (Sb)

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Picture: Tony Hegewald