Patients' use of the Internet

Access to Information; Bioethics; Internet / utilization

Dear Editor,

In Brazil, a country where digital inclusion at home is growing¹, there is a lack of data on the patients' use of the Internet for health information. A survey conducted among 118 patient in the Heart Valve Diseases Outpatient Clinic of InCor, resulted in the findings shown in Table 1.

Table 1
Profile of the patients interviewed

Female gender	65.2%
Age (above 51 years of age)	66%
Level of education: did not complete elementary school	53%
Level of education: tertiary school	5.9%
Internet access (frequently or whenever possible)	16.9%
Internet access (hardly ever)	10%
Internet access (do not use)	72%
Have already searched the Internet about their health problem	12%
Were able to find information on their problem	11%

The figure of 11% of active participation, albeit modest, signals the value of initiatives in communication training in the doctor-patient relationship.

Referência

• ¹
  IBGE. Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílio. Acesso à internet e posse de telefone móvel celular para uso pessoal. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE; 2011. [Acesso em 2013 out 14]. Disponível em ftp://ftp.ibge.gov.br/Acesso_a_internet_e_posse_celular/2011/PNAD_Inter_2011.pdf
  » ftp://ftp.ibge.gov.br/Acesso_a_internet_e_posse_celular/2011/PNAD_Inter_2011.pdf

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  Apr 2014

History

• Received
  16 Oct 2013
• Reviewed
  25 Oct 2013
• Accepted
  25 Oct 2013