Nearly half of U.S. adults live with a chronic disease such as high blood pressure or diabetes.⁸ The current survey asked about five major diseases – high blood pressure, heart conditions, lung conditions, diabetes, and cancer – plus a catch-all question to capture any chronic conditions not included in the list.

The Pew Internet Project and California HealthCare Foundation have previously found that people living with chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure are significantly less likely to have internet access. However, once online, they are just as likely as everyone else to look for health information.⁹

That pattern is repeated in the current survey: 64% of adults living with at least one chronic condition have internet access, compared with 81% of adults who report no chronic conditions. Yet once online, 83% of internet users living with chronic conditions say they look online for health information, compared with 77% of internet users living with no such conditions.

Indeed, internet users living with chronic conditions are keen to gather health information online, particularly about specific diseases, treatments, health insurance, and drug safety or recalls. They outpace or match other internet users on nearly every topic. The one exception is information about pregnancy and childbirth, which is more popular among people not living with any of the conditions named in the survey.

A report coming out later this spring will profile people living with chronic conditions in greater detail.