Introduction
Internet use for health-related purposes is a widespread and growing global phenomenon. In the United States, the proportion of individuals who searched for health information online increased from 46.5% in 2011 to 55.3% in 2018, and the proportion who used any digital health technology to interact with the health care system increased from 12.5% in 2011 to 27.4% in 2018 (Mahajan et al., 2021). Using data from the Internet and Computer use survey (2015 – 2021) this project aims to extend the study above by visualizing the prevalence and trends of the use of internet for health-related purposes among adults in the US from 2015 to 2021.

Project Objectives

1. To visualize the prevalence and trends of the use of internet for health-related purposes among US adults.
2. To show socio-demographic discrepancies in the use of internet for health-related purposes among US adults

Method
This is a longitudinal study of the use of internet for health-related purposes among adults in the US from 2015 to 2021.
The study conducts a secondary analysis on the Computer and Internet Use Supplement (CIUS) of the Current Population Survey (CPS) for four distinct periods namely, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. The CPS, conducted monthly for over 50 years and sampling about 56,000 households, is the primary source of official U.S. employment and unemployment statistics, as well as key demographic data.
The CPS and CIUS combined contain over 600 variables out of which 17 were selected for this study, 14 of which were directly taken from the survey and the remaining 3 derived from others.

Results
The story is approached from three thematic areas based on the characteristics of respondents namely, socio-demographic, geographic, and socio-economic characteristics. A separate dashboard is created with charts to address each of the thematic areas itemized above.

Figure one shows the first thematic area of the story which addresses the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents in relations to the use of internet for health-related purposes. The graphs show that overall, there is high and growing trend in health-related internet use. However, there are certain discrepancies which exists among various sub-groups of these socio-demographic domains.

In figure 2, the data shows that even though health-related internet use is high across all States, there is however a huge variation in the prevalence ranging from a low of 43.36 in Mississippi to 72.93% in the State of Oregon.

Another pivotal area explored by this study is whether people’s access to multiple digital devices or internet sources influenced their tendency to use the internet for health-related purposes. Findings from the data suggest that, yes it does. As noted in the graphs in Figure 3, people who had access to more resources defined by access to multiple internet sources or digital devices reported higher health-related internet use than those who had less. This touches on the role of inequality in health-related internet use which must be addressed by systematic structural interventions.

Discussion

Findings from the study shed light on the critical interplay between digital access, demographic factors, and health-related internet use. The findings offer profound insights for policymakers, healthcare systems, and broader societal considerations.

The observed disparities in health-related internet use across age, gender, education, citizenship status, and residence underline the persistence of a digital divide. Younger individuals and those with higher educational attainment exhibit significantly higher odds of utilizing the internet for health purposes, a finding corroborated by Mahajan et al., 2021, pointing to an inequity that policy must address. Healthcare systems need to recognize the varying levels of internet use for health-related purposes among different demographic groups. Customized health education and outreach programs that consider these disparities can enhance patient engagement and health outcomes (Zonneveld et al., 2020).
The strong association between the number of digital devices and internet connectivity sources with increased odds of health-related internet use highlights the foundational role of digital infrastructure. Policies aimed at enhancing digital infrastructure, particularly in underserved areas, could significantly increase health-related internet use. Initiatives could include subsidizing internet access, providing affordable digital devices, and investing in digital literacy programs.

Conclusion
It is evident from the presentation that the use of internet for health-related purposes is a very high and growing phenomenon among adults in the US. This has implications for health systems as well as individual privacy, security and safety. These concerns must be addressed in addition to the inequalities noted among sub-groups of the various domains addressed in the study.

Bibliography

Mahajan, S., Lu, Y., Spatz, E. S., Nasir, K., & Krumholz, H. M. (2021). Trends and Predictors of Use of Digital Health Technology in the United States. American Journal of Medicine, 134(1), 129–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.06.033
Zonneveld, M., Patomella, A. H., Asaba, E., & Guidetti, S. (2020). The use of information and communication technology in healthcare to improve participation in everyday life: a scoping review. In Disability and Rehabilitation (Vol. 42, Issue 23, pp. 3416–3423). Taylor and Francis Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2019.1592246