Right now, much of the world is being forced to take shelter behind closed doors and isolate from the novel coronavirus. To date, COVID-19 has infected more than 1.2 million people in the United States and has killed at least 65,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's live count. It is certainly one of the worst pandemics of the 21st century, and big names in the world of disease prevention – such as Bill Gates and Dr. Anthony Fauci – have been warning the public about outbreaks like these for years. Gates even warns of a future pandemic every 20 years.
COVID-19 is no doubt affecting people in every corner of the world. But to what extent people are affected depends largely on their access to care. We analyzed data from 2019 IPUMS health surveys in order to understand how people are using the web to search, share, and heed critical medical information – an especially important practice in our ever-wired world. Read on to see what key global census data reveals about how we consume medical advice in the digital era – plus, how that might impact Americans' help amid both a pandemic and the United States' chronic technology gap.
Gender Gap
Preliminary data from around the world suggest that COVID-19 affects males more gravely than females, though experts are not yet certain why. But in the age of telemedicine, one has to wonder if men or women are more advantaged by the use of the web to speak with doctors, get medical checkups, and reach diagnoses. This is especially important considering the fact that some 76% of hospitals surveyed used telemedicine systems in 2017, compared to just 35% in 2010. The ever-growing adoption of videoconferencing, remote monitoring, electronic consultations, and other digital communications in the health sector may mean that more people can access care, or it could mean that more people get left behind.
Our data analysis suggests that women are more avid users of online health platforms compared to men. Around 58.5% of women surveyed looked up health information online, compared to 49.1% of men. Perhaps not surprisingly, people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s were the most likely to do so, while those in higher age brackets were less likely. In particular, it seems that the elderly might be the most left behind, with 39.4% of surveyed people in their 70s and 19.6% of those in their 80s saying they look up health information online.
Regardless of age, women generally tended to be more likely to refill prescriptions and communicate with health care providers over email as well. However, email remains a fairly unpopular method, with only 15% of those surveyed using it to talk to a health care worker. This is especially important to consider in the age of COVID-19, when government-sponsored social distancing measures urge people in the United States to stay home. In the face of such orders, women – particularly younger women – are the most likely to still access medical information online. In the digital world, the elderly – who are already particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 – might be the most likely to get left behind.
Internet Efficacy
Telemedicine or "telehealth" has many known benefits, including the possibility to make healthcare more accessible in areas where there are fewer doctors or in areas where hospitals are farther away. But when it comes to general use of the internet, does looking up health information and communicating online actually make us healthier?
Our analysis of data suggests that, overall, there may be a correlation at play. Individuals deemed to be "in good health" in IPUMS surveys were also more likely to use online tools for their health. About 64.5% of those "in good health" said they used the internet to look up health information, compared to about 52.5% of those deemed to be in less than good health. Similarly, 63.6% of those in the "good health" category corresponded with health care professionals over email, compared to 58.2% of those who did not. Using the internet to refill prescriptions, however, showed little difference, and there was also not a significant difference in health when it came to internet employment among survey participants in their 20s. Interestingly, survey respondents in their 60s showed the greatest health disparity when it came to using the internet to obtain health information: 55% of those who did were in "good health," compared to 41% of those who were not.
Producing Paranoia
Medical organizations often warn that looking up symptoms online can be a dangerous Pandora's box for hypochondriacs, or people who tend to be abnormally anxious about their health. In fact, one name for this phenomenon has even become somewhat common among professionals: "cyberchondria."
Inspired by this common concept, we analyzed IPUMS survey results to see how using the web to look up health information might negatively impact users, if at all. As it turns out, there does seem to be a downside: About 44.2% of those surveyed reported feeling restless when using the internet to look up health information, compared to 31.8% who don't use the internet to do so. Men who looked up health information online were also the most likely to be negatively affected, with feelings of restlessness about 13 percentage points higher between users and nonusers of the internet toward this end.
Meanwhile, though young people tended to be the greatest adopters of telemedicine and internet usage for health, they're also the most likely to be negatively impacted by it. About 50.6% of those using the web for health information reported restlessness, and that number generally tended to decrease as the age of survey respondents increased. For example, only 43.4% of those in their 50s who used the web for health information reported restlessness, compared to about 31.8% of those in their 80s. Additionally, the gap between those who used the internet and those who didn't also seemed to narrow among older survey respondents.
Health in Our Virtual Reality
Ever since smartphones and home computers began to penetrate the modern world, experts around the globe have studied how the digital divide can impact our lives. In general, researchers have found that access to technology is linked to increased gender inequality and better financial outcomes and economic equality, too. But as COVID-19 ravages countries all around the world – both big and small – the jury is still out on whether personal access to health information on the web will have a significant impact on health outcomes.
Our analysis of 2019 data from IPUMS health surveys suggests that using the web to look up health information is adopted differently among varying gender and age groups and can be linked to both positive and negative outcomes. And while health tools online can be convenient and even safe during times such as a pandemic, seeking quality care with a doctor you trust is still important. RateMDs.com offers users access to more than 2 million reviews on doctors, hospitals, and urgent care centers around the country. For those seeking health care with online and virtual options, RateMDs.com can even connect you with health care providers offering virtual visits.
Methodology and Limitations
We analyzed 2019 results from IPUMS health surveys in order to understand how health and internet use for health information were related. We used specific variables on internet use for health information and refilling prescriptions online to understand the demographics that use these services the most and least. To analyze health, we used respondent-reported health that ranged from poor to excellent. For the analysis on restlessness, we combined those who felt restless "a little" to "all of the time" in order to look at the percentage who felt restless by whether they used the internet for health information. We also used a survey of 1,000 people to see how often they used the internet during the outbreak of COVID-19. Data were weighted, but we did not statistically test hypotheses. Survey data has limitations due to self-reporting, such as telescoping, exaggeration and selective memory. This project was an exploratory look at the demographic use of online health tools.
Fair Use Statement
Interested in sharing our study concerning health care and internet use? Please do so for noncommercial purposes only and don't forget to link back here to give us credit for our work.