title: Access to health information on the internet: a public health issue?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To progress in the understanding of the user profile and of search trends for health information on the internet.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analyses were performed based on 1,828 individuals who completed an electronic questionnaire available on a very popular health website. At the same time, through the "elite survey" method, 20 specialists were interviewed, aiming at assessing quality control strategies regarding health information disseminated online.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A predominance of female users who research information for themselves (= 90%), who consider the internet one of their main sources of health information (86%), and who spend from 5 to 35 hours online every week (62%) was verified. High reliability is assigned to information from specialists (76%), and low reliability to television, radio, or blogs (14%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It can be concluded that the internet is proving to be a major source of health information for the population, and that website certification is a strategy to be contemplated to improve the quality of information and to promote public health.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. felipe.moretti@unifesp.br
authors.forename: Felipe Azevedo
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Moretti
authors.forename: Vanessa Elias de
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Edina Mariko Koga da
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D022126:Access to Information; D001938:Brazil; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000592:standards*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D011786:Quality Control; D057386:Search Engine; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires