Disease related use of the internet in chronically ill adults: current and expected use

To determine discrepancies in patients' current use and expected future use of the internet for different functions.

A short questionnaire was developed to assess patients' current use of the internet for three functions: "seeking information", "mutual support", and "care provider contact". This questionnaire was assessed online during 1 week. For each of the functions, scales were computed to assess frequency of use. The same items were used to assess patients' expected future use. Differences in scale score between current use and expected use were calculated to determine discrepancies.

220 patients completed the questionnaire. Patients are frequent users of the internet. The three functions are largely independent of each other and independent of the type of disease and demographics. Most often patient use the internet to find information about the disease or treatment. The discrepancy between current and expected use is largest for the function "care provider contact".

Based on these findings it seems that patients are most strongly interested in an increased possibility of using the internet to contact their healthcare providers.