Medical text-based consultations on the Internet: A 4-year study

Abstract Background The Internet is increasingly used for health matters including Ask the doctor services. Aim To describe users and usage pattern of text-based medical consultation with family physicians on the Internet. Methods Descriptive analysis of the first 4 years’ use of a Swedish Ask the d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of medical informatics (Shannon, Ireland) Ireland), 2008-02, Vol.77 (2), p.114-121
Main Authors: Umefjord, Göran, Sandström, Herbert, Malker, Hans, Petersson, Göran
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to Information
Adolescent
Adult
Female
Gender
Health Informatics
Humans
Hälsoinformatik
Information services
Internal Medicine
Internet
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Medical Informatics
Middle Aged
Other
Physician-Patient Relations
Remote consultation
Remote Consultation - utilization
Sweden
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Summary:Abstract Background The Internet is increasingly used for health matters including Ask the doctor services. Aim To describe users and usage pattern of text-based medical consultation with family physicians on the Internet. Methods Descriptive analysis of the first 4 years’ use of a Swedish Ask the doctor service concerning number of inquiries, age and gender of inquirers. Time of day and week, types of medical inquiries, and use in relation to population density was analyzed during the last year of the study. Results We found a considerable number of users, with 38,217 inquiries submitted to the service. Three-fourths of the inquirers were women, thus exceeding the gender difference seen in regular health care. The typical user was a woman aged 21–60 years. The service was used any time day or night, 7 days a week. Almost half of the inquiries were submitted during evenings and nights. Most areas of medicine were represented in the inquiries, reflecting the fact that there was no control of what an inquiry should include. The use was widespread over the country but more frequent per capita in more densely populated areas as defined by postal code. Conclusion In the study of a service for text-based consultations with family physicians on the Internet, we found a geographically widely distributed use, slowly but gradually increasing during a 4-year period. The use increased more rapidly among young and middle-aged women. Asynchronous text-based consultation is likely to expand in the near future.
ISSN:1386-5056
1872-8243
1872-8243
DOI:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2007.01.009