Survey shows health information search level impacted by age

Survey shows health information search level impacted by age

Source: ePharm5(tm)
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Interest and willingness to learn about health and healthcare online is high across gender, political party affiliation, and ideology, but not age, according to a survey of 800 registered voters. Those aged 65 and older are significantly different from the rest of the population in terms of their interest in pursuing further medical information online. A recent survey by American Survey finds that 79% of those surveyed report that they would seek additional online information after receiving a diagnosis from a doctor. However, according to an editorial in the Washington Times about the survey, the numbers drastically change when broken down by age. When voters aged 65 years and older were asked that same question, 48% report going online for healthcare information, versus 75% of voters aged 55 to 64. In the future, the numbers will even out, because as the age groups move up, they will take the higher percentages with them. In the short term, however, any policy initiatives should include outreach and educational programs to those more than 65 to reduce their reluctance to go online for health information, says the Washington Times report.