Health Topics

Profiles of Health Information Seekers

Who gathers health information online?

Health information gathering online has been consistently popular over the last decade. Eight in ten internet users looked online for health information in 2002 and the same proportion do so today. What has changed is who has access to the internet.  With the exception of adults age 70 and older and those with less than a high school education, internet use has shifted from being exceptional to being commonplace.  And the Pew Internet Project’s consistent finding is that if someone is online, they are in the game when it comes to all kinds of online activities, including health information seeking. What follows are thumbnail sketches of notable groups of health information seekers.

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Copyright 2012 Pew Internet & American Life Project

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project is one of seven projects that make up the Pew Research Center. The Center is supported by The Pew Charitable Trust.