Internet as a source of health information among patientsutilizing Out Patient services at Urban Health TrainingCentre of Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institute– A Cross Sectional Study.

Introduction

In the past, people obtained health information by visiting the library, consulting a health care professional or speaking to trusted associates. The phenomenon has since changed due to the rapid evolvement of information technology. Internet offers abundant information at a click of a button, and hence, it is increasingly used in different domains to gain knowledge. Especially in this present generation, the internet savvy population, are comfortable and using technologies in their day to day routine. Health information is one of the most common researched topics, and the access rate is ever increasing. The Internet offers widespread access to health information, with the advantages of interactivity, information modifying, and anonymity.² Thus, it enables individuals to control their own care, choose health providers, and feel empowered.³ Patients increasingly turn to the internet to prepare for doctors’ consultations, to discuss information they found online with their doctors, or to complement, validate, and challenge the information offered by doctors.Internet use for health information might improve individual’s belief that what they are finding might be having an impact on their health. But question arises regarding the quality and credibility of such health information as the searched contents may be mostly a result of limited research and hence might be inaccurate as most individuals are not aware of the right health care websites.^4,5 The information provided is for a population and not for a particular individual. With the rapid development of the internet and its widespread use, doctors will encounter more “internet-informed” patients. Hence the present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of the internet use as a medical information resource among the patients utilizing Out Patient Department Services at Urban Health Training Centre and to determine the perceptions of the patients regarding the quality and reliability of the information available.

Materials and methods

A Cross-Sectional study was conducted among patients utilizing services of Out Patient Department at Urban Health Training Centre, of Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institute from August to November 2019. A face validated semi structured questionnaire was developed based on a review of the literature on online health information seeking and. Items from previously validated instruments were included and was used for data collection.

Data was collected by interviewing the patients by obtaining the informed consent & confidentiality was assured with regards to their participation. The study participants among the patients were chosen by simple random technique by making use of random number tables. Ethical approval was taken from the ethical review committee.

Inclusion criteria: Patients aged more than 18 years and utilizing OPD services at the study area.

Exclusion Criteria: Patients not willing to give the consent.

Sampling: Simple random sampling.

Sample size: 300 (Akerkar SM et al, 75% prevalence at 95% Confidence Interval)

Data analysis: Data was entered into MS Excel. After data entry, the data was verified and cleaned to eliminate errors, ensured completeness and coded. Analysis was done using statistical software SPSS version 20.0. Quantitative results were expressed using mean and standard deviation. Categorical variables are presented as frequencies and in terms of percentages. Appropriate statistical tests were applied and ‘p’ value of <0.05 were considered significant.

Results

Mean age of the study participants was 43.69±10.30 years. Out of 300 study participants, 156 (52%) were males and 144 (48%) were females. 135(45%) of the participants acknowledged surfing the internet.48 (35%) of them used internet every alternate day and 68 (50%) of them spent an average of 1-3 hours of surfing the internet per week. 118 (88%) of the participants used the internet for seeking health related or medical informationand it varied depending on the health issues of interest.

A particular search engine was used by 60% of them to seek the health information. 90% of them acknowledged the ease of locating the required information on the internet. 108 (92%) of them believed that health information available on the internet was useful and 99 (84%) of them believed the information was reliable.

Information obtained from the internet influenced 83 (71%) of the patients to question their treating physician and 45 (38%) of them to seek a second opinion.

Discussion

In the present study it was found that 88% of the participants used among the internet users used the same for seeking health related or medical information and it varied depending on the health issues of interest which is in accordance with the study conducted by Akrekar SM et al which showed that 75% among the internet users had sought health information on the Internet.⁶ In a study conducted by Ranganthan MC et al, 63.2% used internet for accessing healthcare information similar to other studies² Peterson G et al and Atkinson et al which found 58% and 53.5% internet users seeking health information regularly.

Diaz et al and Atkinson et al found that those with lower education levels were less likely to search for health information which is in accordance with the present study.⁹ In the present study 92% of them believed that health information available on the internet was useful and 84% of them believed the information was reliable Information obtained from the internet influenced 83 (71%) of the patients to question their treating physician and 45 (38%) of them to seek a second opinion; where as in study conducted.^7,8 Akrekar SM et al 95% of the study participants found the information sought online was reliable6 and 62% of them were influenced to question their treating physicians and 28% of them took a second opinion.

Conclusion

The findings of the study show that behavior of the patients is influenced by health information sought online. Even though the number of people accessing the internet is high, the population accessing health information through internet is not comparable. As most of the patients visiting Urban Health Training Centre for OPD services are from slums or high risk areas, the use of internet from them tends to be limited in their day to day life.

Further research is needed to evaluate the impact of the medical information available online. Health information sought by patients online has may question the credibility of the health care professionals and organizations. Patients want to access health information online at any time, in preference to other sources, and this may be related to increased anonymity and privacy. The review of literature shows that number of patients seeking online health information is increasing; health care professionals need to carefully consider the patients who tend to blindly believe the health information sought from internet. 

Source of funding: None.

Conflict of interest: None