Mobile devices, doctor review sites and blogs are changing the way millions of health consumers find and share find health information, according to a new survey released today by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the California HealthCare Foundation. For years, the survey has shown that 83% of Internet users, or 61% of all adults, look online for health information. But Susannah Fox, a co-author of the report and associate director of the Pew project who has studied how adults’ use of the Internet has changed over a decade, tells the Health Blog she was surprised by how many respondents had taken up so-called “Health 2.0-type activities” online — accessing reviews and comments posted by fellow consumers. Nearly 60% said they have consulted blog comments, hospital reviews and doctor reviews, listened to podcasts about health care and signed up to receive updates about health or medical issues. And 20% have posted comments, reviews, photos, audio or video online related to health care, such as participating in an online group forum. Even more surprising, she says, is the jump in the percentage of “e-patients,” as she calls them, who say Internet health resources have been helpful. Some 60% of e-patients say they or someone they know has been helped by following medical advice or health information found on the Web. That’s up from 31% of e-patients in 2006. Just 3% said they or someone they know has been harmed by following medical advice or

health information found on the Internet, a number that has remained stable since 2006. Close to 40% of e-patients use a social networking site like MySpace or Facebook; 22% have followed their friends’ personal health experiences or updates on such a site and 15% have posted comments, queries or information about health or medical matters. Just a fraction of e-patients use Twitter or another service to share updates on medical matters about themselves or to see updates about others, the study found. The growth in mobile access has let people access and share health information on their own time, and interactive features help them “find information tailored to their needs and to post their own contributions,” says Ms. Fox. “They treat the Internet as a supplement to traditional sources of information, using blogs, podcasts and other online resources to deepen their understanding of a condition and sharpen their questions for a health professional.” The report, called “The Social Life of Health Information,” was drawn from a poll of 2,253 adults, age 18 and older, interviewed last December about the social impact of the Internet on health care. The new poll also found that the percentage of American adults getting exercise and fitness information online has jumped from 21% in 2002 to 38% in 2008 –- a more rapid increase than any other health topic covered in the survey. Image: iStockphoto

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Pew Survey: Health Consumers Find More Help on Web