Abstract:

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate patients’ with chronic diseases and their relatives’experiences and characteristics of internet usage for access to health-related information. Material-Method: 196 patients and 171 relatives included in this study. The data of the study was collected using literature based questionnaires developed by the researchers. Results: In the study, 68.8% of the patients and 71.9% of the relatives used internet for access to health-related information. The difference between participants in terms of using the internet for health-related information was determined in variables including age, type and numbers of chronic diseases. Additionally, their internet using frequency, searching topics and online resources used to access to health-related information were significantly different (p<0.05). More than half of the participants (Patients: 65.4%; Relatives:56.9%) stated they did not share the information obtained from the internet with health care providers, and no internet source has been recommended by health professionals. Conclusions: Results of the study indicated that although characteristics of seeking health related information on the internet were different between patients and relatives, their experiences and opinions were similar on the issue. According to this, health care professionals should consider the internet usage status for access to health-related information of the patients and relatives and lead them to use reliable and up to date internet resources.

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