Table 1.
Sample characteristics of health-onliners and health-offliners.
| Variable | Total sample | Health-onliners | Health-offliners | Difference onliners versus offliners |
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|
n=1219 | n=643 | n=576 | F or chi-square statisticsa,b | Degree of freedom | P value | |
| Age |
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Range | 18-79 | 18-79 | 18-78 |
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Mean (SDc) | 46.02 (14.96) | 45.35 (14.55) | 46.78 (15.38) | 2.812a | 1 | .09 |
| Gender, n (%) |
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Female | 610 (50.04) | 338 (52.6) | 272 (47.2) | 3.5b | 1 | .06 |
|
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Male | 609 (49.96) | 305 (47.4) | 304 (52.8) |
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|
| Socioeconomic status, n (%) |
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Low | 177 (15.86) | 79 (13.4) | 98 (18.6) |
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|
|
|
Medium | 658 (58.96) | 339 (57.5) | 319 (60.6) | 13.1b | 2 | .001 |
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High | 281 (25.18) | 172 (29.2) | 109 (20.7) |
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| General Internet use, n (%) |
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At least sometimes per month | 189 (15.50) | 68 (10.6) | 121 (21) |
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|
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Several times per week | 319 (26.17) | 155 (24.1) | 164 (28.5) | 34.9b | 2 | <.001 |
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Daily | 711 (58.33) | 420 (65.3) | 291 (50.5) |
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| Patient status, n (%) |
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Chronically or severely ill | 243 (20.05) | 141 (22.1) | 102 (17.8) | 3.4b |
|
.06 |
|
|
Mildly or not affected | 969 (79.95) | 498 (77.9) | 471 (82.2) |
|
1 |
|
| Perceived relevance of understanding somatic processesd, mean (SD) | 4.25 (0.86) | 4.34 (0.83) | 4.16 (0.90) | 13.012a | 1 | <.001 | |
| Interest in information concerning health topics, n (%) |
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Low or medium | 739 (62.15) | 336 (53.8) | 403 (71.5) | 39.5b | 1 | <.001 |
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Strong | 450 (37.85) | 289 (46.2) | 161 (28.5) |
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| Goals for HISBe,f, mean (SD) |
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Esteem support | 0.24 (0.26) | 0.24 (0.26) | - | N/Ag |
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Emotional support | 0.06 (0.20) | 0.06 (0.20) | - | N/A |
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Informational support | 0.37 (0.23) | 0.37 (0.23) | - | N/A |
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| Health-consciousnessh, mean (SD) | 3.47 (0.77) | 3.59 (0.71) | 3.34 (0.81) | 33.431a | 1 | <.001 | |
| Satisfaction with general practitioneri, mean (SD) | 4.07 (0.86) | 4.02 (0.86) | 4.13 (0.86) | 4.492 | 1 | .03 | |
aF values derived from analysis of variance (ANOVA) for continuous variables.
bChi-square values derived from chi-square test for shares.
cSD: standard deviation.
dScale ranges from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 5 (“strongly agree”).
eHISB: health information-seeking behavior.
fScale ranges from 0 (“no” for all items of the scale) to 1 (“yes” for all items of the scale).
gN/A: not applicable.
hScale ranges from 1 (“Generally, I don’t take care of my health”) to 5 (“Generally, I take good care of my health”).
iScale ranges from 1 (“very unsatisfied”) to 5 (“very satisfied”).