Table 2.
Descriptive summary of internet users by the identified latent classes.
| Characteristics | Latent class 1; heavy Web-based information seekers (n=1120) | Latent class 2; light Web-based information seekers (n=898) | |
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 44.30 (15.97) | 45.03 (17.91) | |
| Gender, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
Womena | 713 (63.70) | 479 (53.3) |
| Race or ethnicity, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
Whiteb | 754 (67.31) | 547 (60.9) |
|
|
Blackc | 173 (15.43) | 176 (19.6) |
|
|
Latino | 132 (11.77) | 122 (13.6) |
|
|
Others | 61 (5.49) | 53 (5.9) |
| Married (vs not married)c, n (%) | 604 (53.91) | 417 (46.4) | |
| Number of household members, mean (SD) | 2.18 (0.92) | 2.19 (0.98) | |
| Educational attainmenta, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
High school or less | 41 (3.62) | 84 (9.3) |
|
|
Vocational school | 246 (22.00) | 317 (35.3) |
|
|
Some college or associated degree | 24 (2.17) | 25 (2.8) |
|
|
Bachelor’s degree | 405 (36.18) | 279 (31.0) |
|
|
Postgraduate degree | 404 (36.03) | 194 (21.6) |
| Employment status, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
Employedb | 753 (67.19) | 541 (60.2) |
| Annual household income in US $a, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
Less than $10,000 | 50 (4.45) | 93 (10.3) |
|
|
$10,000 to under $20,000 | 104 (9.28) | 90 (10.0) |
|
|
$20,000 to under $30,000 | 97 (8.64) | 107 (12.0) |
|
|
$30,000 to under $40,000 | 131 (11.69) | 120 (13.4) |
|
|
$40,000 to under $50,000 | 104 (9.28) | 110 (12.3) |
|
|
$50,000 to under $75,000 | 206 (18.42) | 152 (16.9) |
|
|
$75,000 to under $100,000 | 168 (14.99) | 106 (11.9) |
|
|
$100,000 to under $150,000 | 144 (12.83) | 69 (7.7) |
|
|
$150,000 or more | 117 (10.42) | 52 (5.6) |
| Insureda, n (%) | 1009 (90.12) | 760 (84.6) | |
| Self-rated health, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
Excellent | 365 (32.55) | 299 (33.3) |
|
|
Good | 609 (54.40) | 475 (53.0) |
|
|
Only fair | 126 (11.27) | 105 (11.7) |
|
|
Poor | 20 (1.78) | 18 (2.1) |
| Number of chronic conditionsc, mean (SD) | 0.21 (0.50) | 0.63 (0.93) | |
| Number of disabilities, mean (SD) | 0.33 (0.75) | 0.33 (0.75) | |
| Caregivers for adults |
|
|
|
|
|
Parents vs noncaregiversa, n (%) | 178 (15.91) | 77 (8.5) |
|
|
Nonparents vs noncaregiversa, n (%) | 250 (22.31) | 127 (14.1) |
| Internet usagea, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
Neverd | 22 (2.00) | 31 (3.4) |
|
|
Less often | 11 (1.00) | 35 (3.9) |
|
|
Every few weeks | 15 (1.34) | 39 (4.4) |
|
|
1-2 days a week | 55 (4.90) | 92 (10.3) |
|
|
3-5 days a week | 110 (9.80) | 125 (14.0) |
|
|
About once a day | 147 (13.14) | 177 (19.7) |
|
|
Several times a day | 760 (67.82) | 398 (44.4) |
aP<.001 for the t test or chi-square test.
bP<.01 for the t test or chi-square test.
cP<.05 for the t test or chi-square test.
dInternet usage: never, these respondents still used email and, therefore, classified as internet users.