On the use of the Internet for health and illness issues in Portugal: repercussions in the physician-patient relationship.

Abstract

This paper analyzes and discusses the way the Portuguese citizens are using the Internet for health or illness, the users' profiles and the effects they report from its use, namely, in what concerns the relationship with the health professionals, an under investigated subject. The research involved telephone interviews answered by 2001 individuals between 15 and 80 years old in households with fixed telephone, during three weeks of October and November of 2005. The interviewees were randomly selected and they are part of a stratified representative sample of the Portuguese population. The results show that 30% of the Portuguese had already used the Internet to seek health related information, while in the sub-group of the Internet users the percentage is quite higher, reaching 62%. Considering the general population, the variables that predict the search behavior are gender, age, level of education, number of persons under eighteen years old in the household and place of residence. Restricting the analysis to those that use the Internet, important changes have to be reported, namely, the exclusion of gender, the inclusion of number of visits to the doctor and the decrease of the significance level for all the other variables included in the model. About 12,5% of the Portuguese between 15 and 80 years old use the Internet to get information that may help them deciding whether to consult a health professional or to get health information before or after an appointment. The health information from the Internet reassures twice more Portuguese than those that it torments. Among the Internet users for health issues, two out of five affirm that the information lead them to make suggestions or queries on diagnosis or treatment to their health professionals, what equals about thirteen Portuguese in each hundred. The most valued eService is the possibility to request or renew prescriptions via e-mail or web, pointed by 36% of the Portuguese, followed by the access to read the electronic patient record (34%). Even if not threatening the importance of the health professional as a source of health information, the Internet is becoming an important source of health information for the Portuguese The demand for health services on the Internet is likely to increase, what will probably have implications in the patient-doctor relationship.