Internet use for health-related purposes among Greek consumers.
With more than 1 billion Internet users worldwide, the World Wide Web has inevitably made its mark on the global healthcare industry. As a European Union (EU) nation, Greece has not conducted many e-health trend surveys due to the low penetration of the Internet and the continued belief among Greek consumers that the Internet cannot substitute for face-to-face contact with a physician. Yet, the extant literature does reveal a growing trend of Internet use for healthrelated information among Greek consumers over the past decade. The purpose of this study is to survey the extent of Internet use for health'related purposes among a representative sample of Greek consumers. Results indicated that Internet use among Greek consumers is rising in comparison with past surveys. Also, Greek consumers who are young, female, and well-educated seem to also trust health-related information found on the Internet as well as following recommendations they get from online health-related information.
Hellenic American University, Athens, Greece. daphne_halkias@yahoo.com
Daphne
D
Halkias
Nicholas
N
Harkiolakis
Paul
P
Thurman
Sylva
S
Caracatsanis
D000328:Adult; D003256:Community Participation; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*