Table 4.

OR (95% CI) Comparing Never Sought Health Information on the Internet to Ever Sought and the Timing of Seeking by Health Characteristics^* Among WLS Respondents with Internet Access (N=4,528)

Variable	Ever sought health information on internet (N=2,123)	Sought information before doctor visit (N=305)	Sought information after doctor visit (N=645)	Sought information instead of or unrelated to doctor visit (N=1,127)
SF-12†
Physical	1.00 (0.99, 1.00)	0.98 (0.97, 1.00)	0.99 (0.98, 1.00)	1.00 (0.99, 1.01)
Mental	1.00 (0.98, 1.01)	1.00 (0.98, 1.02)	0.99 (0.98, 1.01)	1.00 (0.99, 1.01)
# Of OARS conditions‡	1.10 (1.05, 1.16)	1.09 (1.00, 1.19)	1.09 (1.02, 1.17)	1.11 (1.05, 1.18)
Asthma	1.06 (0.82, 1.37)	1.03 (0.64, 1.66)	0.86 (0.6, 1.24)	1.18 (0.88, 1.59)
Cancer	1.10 (0.89, 1.36)	1.30 (0.88, 1.92)	1.51 (1.14, 1.99)	0.82 (0.63, 1.07)
Diabetes	0.95 (0.75, 1.19)	1.21 (0.79, 1.85)	0.84 (0.61, 1.16)	1.00 (0.75, 1.32)
Irritable bowel syndrome	1.05 (0.82, 1.35)	1.31 (0.85, 2.02)	1.25 (0.89, 1.75)	0.89 (0.65, 1.21)
Chronic heart disease	0.97 (0.79, 1.2)	1.04 (0.69, 1.55)	0.96 (0.72, 1.29)	0.96 (0.74, 1.24)
Stroke	1.18 (0.77, 1.8)	0.88 (0.38, 2.07)	1.19 (0.68, 2.09)	1.29 (0.78, 2.14)
High blood pressure	0.90 (0.77, 1.05)	1.06 (0.78, 1.43)	0.90 (0.72, 1.12)	0.84 (0.7, 1.01)
Joint problems	1.01 (0.86, 1.18)	1.07 (0.77, 1.47)	0.96 (0.76, 1.21)	1.00 (0.83, 1.22)
# Of prescription medications	1.02 (0.98, 1.05)	1.00 (0.93, 1.07)	1.07 (1.02, 1.13)	0.99 (0.94, 1.03)

^*Adjusted for all other variables in the table as well as sociodemographic, psychological, and doctor-patient relationship characteristics.

^†Short Form-12 summary scores.

^‡Duke Older Americans Resources and Services schedule of common conditions.

OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; WLS, Wisconsin Longitudinal Study; OARS, Older Americans Resources and Services.