Selected news stories about the Pew Internet Project and articles citing our data.
Web Grows as Health-Research Tool
5/18/2005 | 
Coverage
Laura Landro , The Wall Street Journal
'"A survivor of childhood polio, Lynn Lekander became worried that she might be at risk for post-polio syndrome, and went online to research the debilitating condition, which can strike 10 to 40 years after recovery. On a Web site called postpolio.org, she found an expert close to home -- Nicolas E. Walsh, chairman of the department of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio -- and emailed him to set up a consultation.
Increasingly, Americans like Ms. Lekander are using the Web to find the right doctor or research the quality of care at their local hospitals: last year 42% of Internet users with a college degree reported that they have looked for information about a particular doctor or hospital, a sharp increase from just 27% who sought such information in 2002, according to a survey from the nonprofit Pew Internet and American Life Project, which is due to be released today. Among all Internet users, such searches increased to 28% from 21%.
"Everyone knows that if there is a health crisis in your life, or a new symptom, or diagnosis or prescription drug, that you can go online and do a quick search," says Susannah Fox, associate director of the Pew project. "But the difference now is that Internet users are going online to do their health homework on things like wellness and prevention."
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