BackgroundIn the last decade, the number of Internet users worldwide has dramatically increased. People are using the Internet for various health-related purposes. It is important to monitor such use as it may have an impact on the individual’s health and behavior, patient-practitioner roles, and on general health care provision.Objectives This study investigates trends and patterns of European health-related Internet use over a period of 18 months. The main study objective was to estimate the change in the proportion of the population using the Internet for health purposes, and the importance of the Internet as a source of health information compared to more traditional sources.Methods The survey data were collected through computer-assisted telephone interviews. A representative sample (N = 14,956) from seven European countries has been used: Denmark, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Norway, Poland, and Portugal. The European eHealth Consumer Trends Survey was first conducted in October-November 2005 and repeated in April-May 2007. In addition to providing background information, respondents were asked to rate the importance of various sources of health information. They were also queried as to the frequency of different online activities related to health and illness and the effects of such use on their disposition.Results The percentage of the population that has used the Internet for health purposes increased from an estimated 42.3% (95% CI [Confidence Interval] 41.3 - 43.3) in 2005 to an estimated 52.2% (95% CI 51.3 - 53.2) in 2007. Significant growth in the use of the Internet for health purposes was found in all the seven countries. Young women are the most active Internet health users. The importance of the Internet as a source of health information has increased. In 2007, the Internet was perceived as an important source of health information by an estimated 46.8% (95% CI 45.7 - 47.9) of the population, a significant increase of 6.5 % (95% CI 4.9 - 8.1) from 2005. The importance of all the traditional health information channels has either decreased or remained the same. An estimated 22.7% (95% CI 21.7 - 23.6) are using it for more interactive services than just reading health information.Conclusion The Internet is increasingly being used as a source of health information by the European population, and its perceived importance is rising. Use of the Internet for health purposes is growing in all age groups and for both men and women, with especially strong growth among young women. We see that experienced Internet health users are also using the Internet as an active communication channel, both for reaching health professionals and for communicating with peers.

We investigated the use of the Internet for health-related purposes in Poland. A telephone survey was performed of 1027 people between 15 and 80 years old who were selected from the Polish population by random sampling. The study showed that the Internet was used by 47% of the respondents (n ¼ 483) and 37% of the respondents (n ¼ 376) had used it at least once a week. Almost 80% of responders used the Internet to obtain information about health or illness (n ¼ 383) and 43% of them did it at least once a month. The respondents used the Internet for health purposes mainly to read about health or illness (95%). Only 3% of them approached the family physician, specialist or other health professional over the Internet. However, when choosing a new doctor, 45% of respondents stated that the doctor's provision of Internet-based services was of importance. At present the Internet is not used as a health communications channel but it is clear that many Polish people are interested in Internet-based health services.

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The main goal of the most European telemedicine programs is to increase access to emergency and primary care; however, telemedicine presents both profound opportunities and challenges to general practice/family medicine. The aim of this project is to develop and demonstrate a regional primary care teleconsulting system in Poland linking an academic family medicine center and 10 family doctors' practices (both urban and rural) within a range of 100-200 km, serving a local population of 25,000 individuals. It is designed to support real-time consultations among health care providers via a computer network, provide secure access to multimedia patient records, and facilitate an innovative home monitoring and remote care from doctors to their patients. The entire process (planned for 3 years) includes: selecting the best technology (i.e., teletransmission system, communication protocols, etc.) and equipment; preparing the assumptions and conditions for formats and transmission rates; analysis of the existing techniques of compression and preparing own specific solution; finding an optimal infrastructure (i.e., equipment and communication configuration); implementing the system; evaluation of the medical, economic, organizational, and sociological aspects of the system (i.e., accessibility to primary health care, cost feasibility and cost-effectiveness of telemedicine services, quality of care assessment, etc.). The project offers the potential to improve: access to high-quality primary health care; the patient-physician bond and the attending physician's level of confidence; education of family doctors; use of expensive resources; and a convenient mode of delivering medical services to the patient.