20 May 2005
An ever-growing number of people are turning to the Internet as a primary means to learn more about either personal ailments or general illness symptoms, according to a new report.
Research group Pew Internet and American Life found that nearly 70 per cent of Internet users have looked up medical information at least once, be it the exclusive reason for surfing the net or just general inquisition.
Despite this however, another firm has revealed that the overall accessibility of various health care sites is still remarkably poor.
JupiterResearch analyst Monique Levy noted in Medical News Today that the majority of health sites are introducing various new information links but only 15 per cent of Internet users currently consider them useful.
"Pharmaceutical companies have built web sites that have a whole variety of tools to try to help consumers track and manage conditions," said Ms Levy. "However, we see that activity has been pretty low."
Pew's annual report didn't comment explicitly on the various sites' accessibility standards but it did conclude by suggesting that use of the Internet for solving health intrigue is evolving at such a rate that huge developments for the industry are afoot.© DeHavilland Information Services plc
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