Physician trust moderates the Internet use and physician visit relationship

Area of Science:

• Health communication
• Medical informatics
• Health services research

Background:

• Previous studies indicate a link between Internet health information seeking and increased physician visits.
• The moderating factors influencing this association require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the moderating role of trust in health professionals on the relationship between Internet use for health information and physician visit frequency.
• To understand the conditions under which online health information seeking impacts healthcare utilization.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a two-wave panel dataset from a U.S. nationally representative sample.
• Collected data in 2005 and 2006.
• Employed cross-sectional and panel analyses to assess the moderating effect of trust.

Main Results:

• The positive association between Internet use for health information and physician visits was significantly larger for individuals with lower trust in health professionals.
• This effect was consistent across both cross-sectional and panel data analyses.

Conclusions:

• Trust in health professionals is a crucial moderator in the relationship between seeking health information online and seeking in-person medical care.
• Lower trust exacerbates the tendency for individuals using the Internet for health information to visit physicians more frequently.