Hur unga söker medicinsk information online : En kvantitativ studie om studenters förhållningssätt till medicinsk informationssökning på internet

Sammanfattning: Today the amount of online medical information sources in Swedish is steadily increasing. The information is convenient and always at hand. People who turn to Google and other search engines are, however, not always knowledgeable about how to identify trustworthy information, or how search algorithms work. The main purpose of this study is to :ind out how Swedish students in the ages of 18-35 search for medical information online. One aspect of this is to gain a better understanding of how they navigate the internet, and how they prioritize and value different information sources. We also look at what sources they turn to for medical information and whether source credibility is crucial in their choices. Our study is based on an online survey at Umeå University. The survey was conducted among eight different study programs with students in the ages of 18-35. In total, we received 305 responses, of which 163 (53,4%) were women, 139 (45,6%) were men, and 1% de:ined as others. The main conclusion of this study is that the target group is most likely to turn to information sites provided by authorities. These sites are considered to be the most trustworthy. The study also showed that the target group was well aware of Sweden’s biggest online doctors, Kry in particular, and rated them as trustworthy as well. The target group would, however, not turn to these sites for medical information. We can also notice that the target group consider themselves to be critical of information online and good at evaluating source credibility.