Many devices have become popular across generations, with a majority now owning cell phones, laptops and desktop computers. Younger adults are leading the way in increased mobility, preferring laptops to desktops and using their cell phones for a variety of functions, including internet, email, music, games, and video.
The commercial use of the internet by American adults has grown since the mid-2000s, with 58% of Americans now reporting that they perform online research concerning the products and services that they are considering purchasing. That is an increase from 49% who said they conducted product or service research online in 2004.
Additionally, 24% of American adults say they have posted comments or reviews online about the product or services they buy, indicating a willingness to share their opinions about products and the buying experience with others.
“Many Americans begin their purchasing experience by doing online research to compare prices, quality, and the reviews of other shoppers,” said Jim Jansen, Senior Fellow at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and author of a new report about online product research. “Even if they end up making their purchase in a store, they start their fact-finding and decision-making on the internet.
Source: Pew Internet Project
[This report is based on the findings of a daily tracking survey on Americans' use of the Internet. The results in this report are based on data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates between November 19 to December 20, 2008, among a national sample of 2,253 adults.]
source: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Chronic-Disease/Part-1.aspx?r=1
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Adults living with chronic disease are disproportionately offline in an online world.
Recent survey data from the Pew Internet Project and the California HealthCare Foundation show that adults living with chronic disease are significantly less likely than healthy adults to have access to the internet:
- * 81% of adults reporting no chronic diseases go online.
- * 62% of adults living with one or more chronic disease go online.
People managing multiple diseases are less likely to have internet access:
- * 68% of adults reporting one chronic disease go online.
- * 52% of adults living with two or more chronic diseases go online.
These findings are in line with overall trends in public health and technology adoption. Statistically speaking, chronic disease is associated with being older, African American, less educated, and living in a lower-income household. By contrast, internet use is statistically associated with being younger, white, college-educated, and living in a higher-income household. Thus, it is not surprising that the chronically ill report lower rates of internet access than other adults. However, when all of these demographic factors are controlled, living with a chronic disease in and of itself has an independent, negative effect on someone’s likelihood to have internet access.
The internet access gap creates an online health information gap.
Looking at the population as a whole, 51% of American adults living with chronic disease have looked online for any of the health topics included in the survey, such as information about a specific disease, a certain medical procedure, prescription or over-the-counter drugs, or health insurance.
By comparison, 66% of adults who report no chronic conditions use the internet to gather health information.
Lack of internet access, not lack of interest in the topic, is the primary reason for the gaps. In fact, when demographic factors are controlled, internet users living with chronic disease are slightly more likely than other internet users to access health information online.
Health professionals dominate the information mix.
More than any other group, people living with chronic disease remain strongly connected to offline sources of medical assistance and advice:
- * 93% of adults living with chronic disease ask a health professional for information or assistance in dealing with health or medical issues.
- * 60% ask a friend or family member.
- * 56% use books or other printed reference material.
- * 44% use the internet.
- * 38% contact their insurance provider.
- * 6% use another source not mentioned in the list.
By comparison, adults who report no chronic conditions are significantly more likely to turn to the internet as a source of health information and less likely to contact their insurance provider.
However, the social life of chronic disease information is robust.
Interestingly, there are two activities which stand out among people living with chronic disease: blogging and online health discussions. When other demographic factors are held constant, having a chronic disease significantly increases an internet user’s likelihood to say they work on a blog or contribute to an online discussion, a listserv, or other online group forum that helps people with personal issues or health problems.
Uptake for these activities is low overall, but those who have participated often praise the information they find. For example, one person wrote, “[An] online support group helped me learn about the disease and provided comfort in knowing that my symptoms were not ‘just in my head,’ and helped me take steps to adjust to living with a chronic condition.” Another shared, “I live in a small town and it is helpful to be able to use the internet to find others that have the same condition as I do.”
Living with chronic disease is also associated, once someone is online, with a greater likelihood to access user-generated health content such as blog posts, hospital reviews, doctor reviews, and podcasts. These resources allow an internet user to dive deeply into a health topic, using the internet as a communications tool, not simply an information vending machine.
The impact of online health information may be muted among people living with chronic disease.
Thirty-six percent of adults living with chronic disease say they or someone they know has been helped by following medical advice or health information found on the internet, which is significantly lower than the 45% of adults with no chronic disease.
Very few adults, regardless of health status, say they or someone they know has been harmed by following medical advice or health information found on the internet. Two percent of adults living with chronic disease report such harm, compared with 3% of adults with no chronic disease.
However, when asked if the health information found in their last online session had an impact on their own health care or the way they care for someone else, those who are living with chronic disease are significantly more likely than other internet users to say yes, their most recent inquiry made a difference.
The internet is like a secret weapon – if someone has access to it.
The deck is stacked against people living with chronic disease. They are disproportionately offline. They often have complicated health issues, not easily solved by the addition of even the best, most reliable, medical advice.
And yet, those who are online have a trump card. They have each other. This survey finds that having a chronic disease increases the probability that an internet user will share what they know and learn from their peers. They unearth nuggets of information. They blog. They participate in online discussions. And they just keep going.
source: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Chronic-Disease/Part-1.aspx?r=1
As of December 2009, 38% of U.S. adults age 65 and older go online, a significantly lower rate of internet adoption than the general population (74%) and even the next-oldest group (70% of adults age 50-64 years old go online).
In addition, just 26% of U.S. adults age 65 and older have home broadband access, compared with 56% of adults age 50-64 years old (and 60% of all adults).
Older internet users are also likely to stay in the shallow end of the internet activities pool: email and search. A few pioneers have jumped into the social media deep end, but these seniors are the exception, not the rule.
And while the Pew Internet Project has found that mobile access is closing the gap between African Americans and whites, and mobile users are more likely to participate in social media, just 16% of U.S. adults age 65 and older go online wirelessly, via a laptop or handheld device. By contrast, 55% of all adults connect to the internet wirelessly.
All this could change if more older adults start carrying internet-enabled mobile devices, but for now, the majority of older adults remain offline and in the stationary media majority.
Source: http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2010/January/38-of-adults-age-65-go-online.aspx
by Susannah Fox
Jan 13, 2010
