Access to health information on the internet and possible implications for the physician-patient relationship

• Autor(a) principal: Folgosi , Fernanda
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Reis, Júlia Faria, Lauck, Ana Júlia Martins, Conceição, Eduarda Almeida Dutra da, Malheiros, Amanda, Marques , Joaquim Pedro Figueira, Thaise Xavier Silva, Constanza
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Journal Health NPEPS
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.unemat.br/index.php/jhnpeps/article/view/10922
• topic: Uso da Internet; Acesso à Informação; Comunicação em Saúde; Assistência Centrada no Paciente; Relações Médico-Paciente

Objective: to evaluate the use of the internet by patients to access health information and the possible implications for the physician-patient relationship. Method: descriptive, cross-sectional and quantitative study carried out in April and May 2022 in Anápolis, Goiás. A validated questionnaire on internet use was used in the study. The G test was applied to associate internet use with sex and age group, with a significance level of 5% (p<0.05). Results: among the 109 patients, there was a prevalence of females (80.7%), aged 18 to 59 years (83.5%), with complete high school (42.2%). Most spend between two and four hours a day on the Internet (68.0%; p=0.992) and had already searched for health information on the Internet (84.4%; p=0.095), especially about medications (86.2%; p=0.940). Participants of sexes used the internet for a second opinion on the medical diagnosis (men - 52.4%; women - 68.2%; p=0.185), but did not discuss their searches carried out on the internet with the doctors (men - 57, 1%; women - 86.4%; p=0.005). Conclusion: the Internet has been used quite frequently by patients to access health information, but they do not discuss their findings with professionals, which tends to weaken the doctor-patient relationship.