Study: Senior Citizens Don’t Often Use the Internet for Health Matters

A new report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that although older people are mostly likely to need medical care, they are least likely to turn to the Internet for information.

According to Pew Research, 60% of all adults use the Internet to gain further information about medical conditions, including their own. About 35% of people even use the Internet to diagnose themselves or a friend or family member. Only 18% of senior citizens have reported to doing the same.  [1]

Since 2011, those who receive Medicare have been asked to fill out surveys to disclose certain things about their lifestyle, including their use of the Internet. In 2012, of those who answered the survey, 64% stated that they owned computers, but only 43% used them for the Internet.

Likewise, senior citizens were less likely to use the Internet to read about health conditions or shop online. Instead, survey respondents most often used the Internet for email and online banking. A very small percentage, only 8%, used online services to fill their prescriptions online. As few as 5% used the computer to work with their insurance. [2]

The study also showed that those who graduated from college were 7 times more likely to research health issues online than those who have not finished high school. And older people who were in good health were far more likely to even turn on their computer than those who found themselves in ill-health, meaning those who could benefit most from the Internet’s resources are not spending time using it.

The survey also found that white senior citizens were twice as likely as black or Latino seniors to go online to search for health related information.

While 35% of people have responded that they diagnose themselves from information found on the Internet, this practice can lead to dangers. Not everything found on the Internet is true, and without proper medical knowledge, it can be possible to misdiagnose and then mistreat yourself. However, it is likely that a combination of health knowledge and doctor consultations can work best.

Sources:

[1] LA Times

[2] Sci-Tech Today