These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: The internet--friend or foe? A questionnaire study of orthopaedic out-patients.
    Author: Gupte CM, Hassan AN, McDermott ID, Thomas RD.
    Journal: Ann R Coll Surg Engl; 2002 May; 84(3):187-92. PubMed ID: 12092873.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVE: To examine patients' use of the Internet to obtain medical information, their opinions on the quality of medical Web sites, and their attitudes towards Internet-based consultations. DESIGN: Questionnaire study. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: 398 patients, aged 10-95 years, visiting the orthopaedic outpatient clinics of a London district general hospital over a 2-week period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (i) The rate of Internet use by patients; (ii) the perception of the quality of medical web sites; (iii) future intentions and attitudes towards Internet-based consultations; and (iv) concurrence between information obtained from Web sites and advice given by the orthopaedic surgeon in the clinic. RESULTS: From 369 respondents (response rate 93%), 55.3% of patients had accessed the Internet. Of these, 52.0% had obtained medical information from this source. Access was linearly correlated with age (r2 = 0.975, P < 0.01) and was also related to social status. Of the 12.3% of patients who had researched their particular orthopaedic condition, 20% reported that the advice received from the surgeon in the clinic contradicted that obtained from the Internet. A total of 35.7% of patients would undergo an Internet-based consultation, whilst a further 25.5% would consider this, depending on the medical condition in question. CONCLUSIONS: Over half of the patients studied were willing to access the Internet for medical information, with younger patients more likely to undertake this activity. Moreover, a significant proportion of respondents were willing to undergo an Internet-based consultation. The increased use of medical Web sites by patients raises important issues regarding the need for quality control, and impacts significantly upon the surgeon-patient relationship.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]