News > Using electronic media

About 51% of U.S. adults went online to look up health information last year, according to a new report from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. For the survey, researchers interviewed 7,192 adults ages 18 to 64 between January and June 2009.

Investigators found that:

• 6% of respondents had requested prescription refills online;
• 5% had used e-mail to communicate with a physician; and
• 3% had used the Internet to make medical appointments during the previous 12 months
• adults ages 18 to 49 were more likely than older adults to seek health information online.
  
• women were slightly more likely than men to use the Internet for services such as discussing health topics in online chats, researching health information and scheduling medical appointments

For a copy of the report go to: www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/healthinfo2009/healthinfo2009.pdf