The majority of U.S. adults say they view their health care providers as their most trusted source of medical information, but 38%, or 85.6 million U.S. adults, have doubted the opinion of medical professionals when it conflicts with online information, according to a new survey, Healthcare IT News reports.
The survey -- commissioned by Envision Solutions, a health care marketing and consulting firm -- is the first in a series of studies on how U.S. residents use interactive technologies, such as the Internet, in health care.
Younger adults are the most likely to be skeptical of medical advice. Forty-three percent of U.S. adults ages 18 to 34 said they doubted their health care providers' advice when it conflicted with online sources, according to the survey.
Kelton Research conducted the nationally representative online survey of 1,000 U.S. adults from July 17 to July 21 (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 7/30).