Provision of Internet-based rheumatology education (http://rheuma.bham.ac.uk).
OBJECTIVE
The Internet is becoming an important way of delivering medical information, and if used appropriately may assist in improving patients' self-management of their disease. We have established an arthritis education website ('Arthritis Help') and investigated its use over the last 2 yr.


METHODS
Computer-generated log-file analysis and on-line questionnaires were used to create user profiles of our website.


RESULTS
An average of 288 people visited our site each day, predominantly from America and the UK (49% of users). The typical questionnaire respondent (n = 770) was an American female with arthritis, aged 30+ yr, accessing the Internet from home. Typically, respondents had previously obtained information from medical staff or in written form, but were now more likely to use the Internet. One hundred and sixty-seven out of 585 respondents found our site to be useful, prompting them to seek more information (29%), change their behaviour or engage in more effective discussions with their physician (15%).


CONCLUSIONS
These data indicate that it is possible to use the Internet to deliver medical information to its target audience, and that this process can have some impact on the way disease is self-managed. This information may aid more focused website design to maximize the use and potential benefits of such a resource.
Wilson
A S
AS
Department of Rheumatology, Division of Immunity and Infection and Cancer Research Campaign Clinical Trials Unit, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Kitas
G D
GD
Llewellyn
P
P
Carruthers
D M
DM
Cheseldine
D C
DC
Harris
S
S
Huissoon
A P
AP
Bacon
P A
PA
Young
S P
SP
D017677:Age Distribution; D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012219:Rheumatology / Q000193:education*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires