Abstract
BackgroundUsing the internet for health information is a widespread phenomenon documented in considerable scholarship. Less common, however, is the analysis of panel data to examine how internet use may relate to change in health status over time.ObjectiveThis study examines whether internet use and internet use related to health are associated with a change in health status among young adults.MethodsWe used a unique panel survey data set collected about young adults’ internet use in 2012 and 2016 (n=384). We applied logistic regression to examine the relationships between sociodemographics, internet experiences, frequency of health-related internet use, and sharing health content online with change in health status over time. We additionally examined the variables characterizing sharing health content online (via Facebook, Twitter, and email) in separate models.ResultsIn the second wave, over half (236/384, 61.5%) of the sample used the internet for health at least weekly. Approximately one-third (141/384, 36.7%) used Facebook for health-content sharing, while using Twitter and email for sharing health content were far less frequent (14/384, 3.6%, and 55/384, 14.3%, respectively). A change in health status occurred for 43.0% (165/384) of the sample; 18.5% (71/384) reported an improvement while 24.5% (94/384) reported a decline. Greater frequency of internet use was associated with health decline over time (B=–0.58, P=.02). We also found that frequent health-related internet use was related to enhanced health or maintained health (B=0.58, P=.03). Sharing health content on social media or email, however, was not related to young adults’ health changes.ConclusionsYoung adults exhibit a pattern of using the internet for health that influences their health status. Our finding that frequent health-related internet use may promote improved or maintained health suggests that this type of online activity might also support healthy living.
Highlights
The internet has become an important means through which people engage with health content; among US adults, well over half turn to the internet as a source of health information [1,2,3]
Young adults exhibit a pattern of using the internet for health that influences their health status
Our finding that frequent health-related internet use may promote improved or maintained health suggests that this type of online activity might support healthy living
Summary
The internet has become an important means through which people engage with health content; among US adults, well over half turn to the internet as a source of health information [1,2,3]. Young adults—individuals in their late teens and twenties [4]—report even higher levels of internet use for health [5,6,7]. Young adults are over 2 times as likely to search for a health provider online and over 3 times as likely to search for health information as their older counterparts even when controlling for other sociodemographic characteristics [8]. Younger age is continually reported to be an indicator of a higher likelihood of using the internet for health-related reasons [9,10]. How internet use relates to the production of health inequalities https://www.jmir.org/2021/1/e22051. Using the internet for health information is a widespread phenomenon documented in considerable scholarship. Less common is the analysis of panel data to examine how internet use may relate to change in health status over time
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