Table 3.
Caregiver and noncaregiver comparisons in the internet use for health care information seeking.
| Item | Caregivers (yes), n (%) | Noncaregivers (yes), n (%) | χ2 (df) | P value | |
| Has respondent ever looked for information about health or medical topics from any source | 324 (84.80) | 2199 (80.03) | 2.3 (1) | .13 | |
| The most recent time respondent looked for health information, where they went first | |||||
|
|
Print sources (newspapers, magazines, etc) | 27 (9.71) | 139 (7.19) | 12.2 (3) | .02 |
|
|
Friend or family member | 8 (2.88) | 74 (3.83) | —a | — |
|
|
Doctor or health care provider | 55 (19.78) | 299 (15.48) | — | — |
|
|
Internet | 181 (65.11) | 1401 (72.52) | — | — |
|
|
Other (telephone number, complementary practitioner, or cancer organization) | 7 (0.98) | 19 (2.52) | — | — |
| The most recent time respondent looked for health information, who it was for | |||||
|
|
Myself | 106 (26.29) | 1328 (59.30) | 66.9 (2) | <.001 |
|
|
Someone else | 92 (31.03) | 377 (19.22) | — | — |
|
|
Both myself and someone else | 124 (42.68) | 483 (21.48) | — | — |
| In the past 12 months, respondent used a computer, smartphone, or other electronic means to | |||||
|
|
Look for health or medical information for yourself | 286 (74.30) | 1884 (71.13) | 0.7 (1) | .40 |
|
|
Look for health or medical information for someone else | 264 (71.09) | 1480 (57.69) | 12.0 (1) | <.001 |
|
|
Buy medicine or vitamins online | 90 (22.80) | 597 (20.60) | 0.4 (1) | .53 |
|
|
Look for a health care provider | 164 (44.67) | 1058 (42.62) | 0.3 (1) | .61 |
|
|
Communicate with a doctor or a doctor’s office | 148 (39.70) | 983 (34.65) | 1.7 (1) | .20 |
|
|
Make appointments with a health care provider | 166 (46.85) | 1075 (38.74) | 4.2 (1) | .04 |
|
|
Track health care charges and costs | 141 (36.58) | 846 (33.95) | 0.5 (1) | .49 |
|
|
Fill out forms or paperwork related to your health care | 176 (47.63) | 1051 (40.64) | 3.1 (1) | .08 |
|
|
Look up test results | 140 (33.24) | 956 (33.31) | 0.0 (1) | .98 |
|
|
Respondent has difficulty seeking health information | 2.19 (1-4)b | 2.12 (1-4)b | −1.1 (2494)c | .26 |
|
|
Respondent has Confidence seeking health information | 3.56 (1-5)b | 3.76 (1-5)b | 2.67 (3180)c | .007 |
aA dash indicates that no value was calculated.
bReported as mean (range).
cA 2-tailed t test was performed.