The Use of Internet to Search for Health Information before Surgery: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Introduction: The Internet is becoming increasingly important as a source of health information. In Singapore, two in three households have access to Internet at home and the proportion of Internet users is rising each year1. This study seeks to investigate the characteristic of patients who used the Internet to seek for health information before scheduled surgery and their preferred mode of education from the healthcare professionals. Methods: This study was carried out in a general surgical ward. Using convenience sampling, subjects were asked to fill up a standard set of closed-ended questionnaires, which consist of the patients' demographics data, their perception of using the Internet and their preferred mode of education from the health-care professionals. Results: A total of 107 subjects completed this study. The percentage of subjects who owned a computer and had access to the Internet were 90%. Higher level of education and income were more likely to search the Internet before their operation (p=0.03). There was no significance difference between age group and Internet search (p=0.574). The most preferred mode of education were Internet-based when discharge from the hospital (n=48). Conclusions: The findings showed that patients and their love ones are taking a pro-active approach in their health and are resourceful in acquiring information about their surgery. Nurses play a vital role in providing patient education and guiding them to a reliable and accurate websites. Hence, it is imperative to adopt an Internet-based education especially for the IT-literate population.