Background: Hospitalized patients often crave information about their illness. As many as 70% of outpatients use the internet for this purpose. However, little is known about how often hospitalized patients search for medical information online.
Methods: Between June 2018 and October 2018, we conducted a survey of patients hospitalized in our academic hospital medicine service. Lists of hospitalized patients were used to identify eligible patients. Patients that were visibly confused or agitated, unable or refused to provide information, did not speak English, or not on a hospitalist service were excluded. Two study investigators approached patients with a paper-based survey instrument and asked patients to fill in data. Basic demographic information (age, gender), whether or not the patient used the internet to search about their health during hospitalization, what information was sought and whether or not they shared findings with their providers were posed. The study was deemed exempt by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Michigan.
Results: Between June 2018 and October 2018, we approached 500 of 558 eligible patients agreed to participate (89% response rate). Sixty percent of those surveyed reported using the internet during a current or past hospitalization to search for medical information. Although no differences between men and women were noted in terms of searches (62% vs. 57%, p=0.3), younger patients more often reported searching the internet than older ones (57 vs. 64 years respectively, p<0.001). Those who searched the internet more often had a college degree compared to those that did not (67% vs. 54% of respondents, p=0.003). Patients often used Google (75%) rather than a specific medical site. Approximately half of all respondents (53%) stated that someone other than themselves performed the search (commonly a relative). Few respondents shared performing a search with providers (20%). The most cited reason for searches was to find more about their disease/diagnosis (43%) and treatment options (32%). Respondents rarely searched for information on cost (0.03%) or background on physicians (0.03%).
Conclusions: In this survey, the majority of hospitalized patients reported searching for medical information during hospitalization. This finding suggests hospitalized patients often look for information beyond their medical providers. Understanding motivations for seeking such knowledge and developing means to proactively provide such information may help improve the patient experience.
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