Older Adults & Health Information Seeking on the Internet

While midlife and older adults (ages 50+) are less likely to use the Internet than younger age groups, they are the largest growing group of Internet adoptees. This study examined Internet use habits of adults ages 50 years and older as it related to health information seeking. A diverse sample of adults ages 50 to 70 years completed questionnaires online about their internet use and health information seeking. The sample was 65% women, 30% Asian, 30% Latino, 33% were born outside of the US, and 13% spoke a language other than English in the home. All but 1 participant had used the Internet to search for health information. Subjects most frequently searched the Internet for health information for themselves for weight loss (reported by 64% of subjects), followed by information on medication prescriptions (60%). Subjects most frequently searched the internet for friends and family for information related to specific medical conditions (i.e., cancer, diabetes, and heart disease). These health information seeking patterns did not differ by race or ethnicity. Of subjects 65 and older, 32% had never used the Internet to find information on Medicare. Caucasian participants were more likely to get their health information from websites, and Latinos were more likely to get their health information from doctors. All groups had the most trust in health information from doctors than from other sources. This study reveals interesting patterns of Internet health information seeking that can inform the content and distribution of information both through the web and traditional sources.