The Pew Internet Project has tracked the internet’s role in decision-making, finding that many people use online resources to compare their options. Social media's influence is on the rise as more and more people look for advice from peers as well as experts. The idea is that, if people can pool knowledge and learn to track their own health metrics, such as their weight or cholesterol counts, they can make better choices and have better health outcomes.
Among e-patients living with chronic disease:
- 37% have read someone else's commentary or experience about health or medical issues on an online news group, website, or blog.
- 25% have consulted rankings or reviews online of hospitals or other medical facilities.
- 25% have consulted rankings or reviews online of doctors or other providers.
- 22% have signed up to receive updates about health or medical issues.
- 13% have listened to a podcast about health or medical issues.
Overall, 57% of e-patients living with chronic disease have done at least one of the above activities. These findings mirror patterns in the general population: e-patients living with chronic disease are about as likely as the general population of e-patients to tap into user-generated health content. However, statistical analysis shows that when age, education, and type of internet access are controlled, living with chronic disease increases the likelihood that an internet user will consume user-generated health content.
In the modern world, blogs and other online meeting grounds provide a way for people to share information, emotional support, and practical advice. This is the 21st century version of the age-old instinct to seek solace in the community. Thomas Jefferson captured the sentiment in a letter to a friend in 1786, "Who then can so softly bind up the wound of another as he who has felt the same wound himself?"
On a more practical level, one e-patient wrote, "I was having problems sleeping [because of] hip pain. Through this site I received info about proper ways to set up my bed and since then have been sleeping so much better."
Another respondent wrote, "I read the Gluten Free Forum daily for about a year before I really got my celiac disease under control and felt fully informed. You can't call your gastroenterologist everytime you buy a new product."
By contrast, another e-patient does not find the community aspect of online health information to be useful, writing, "I don’t find chat rooms helpful because most people are sharing how horrible they feel and I am beyond that. I have bad days but I feel dragged down when I whine about them or listen to others talk about their problems with doctors, family, etc. I don’t have those problems."