Background Many patients with chronic medical conditions search the internet to obtain medical advice and health information to improve their health condition and quality of life. Diabetes is a common chronic disease that disproportionately affects different race and ethnicity groups in the United States. In the existing literature on the popularity of internet health information seeking among persons with a chronic medical condition, there are limited data on US adults living with diabetes. Objective This study aims to examine the factors associated with internet health information seeking among US adults living with diabetes and whether there is a disparity in internet health information seeking stratified by race and ethnicity. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using the Health Information National Trends Survey data from 2017 to 2020. We selected our study sample based on respondents’ reports on whether they were told they had diabetes, and our primary outcome was internet health information–seeking behavior. We used 2 multivariable logistic regression models to examine the effects of sociodemographic factors and other covariates on the internet health information–seeking behavior of adults with diabetes. Jackknife replicate weights were used to provide bias-corrected variance estimates. Results Our study sample included 2903 adults who self-reported that they had diabetes. In total, 60.08% (1744/2903) were non-Hispanic White individuals, 46.88% (1336/2850) were men, and 64% (1812/2831) had some college or graduate education. The prevalence of internet health information seeking in this population was 64.49% (1872/2903), and the main factors associated with internet health information seeking included education level (some college vs less than high school: odds ratio [OR] 1.42, 95% CI 1.44-1.88; and college graduate or higher vs less than high school: OR 2.50, 95% CI 1.79-3.50), age (age group ≥65 years vs age group 18-44 years: OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.34-0.63), and household income level (P<.001). In addition, we found significant differences in the effects of predictors stratified by race. Conclusions The findings from this study suggest that internet health information seeking is common among US adults living with diabetes. Internet health information could influence the relationship between health care providers and adults living with diabetes and improve their self-management and quality of life.

BACKGROUND Many patients with chronic medical conditions search the internet to obtain medical advice and health information to improve their health condition and quality of life. Diabetes is a common chronic disease that disproportionately affects different race/ethnic groups in the US. With the existing literature on the popularity of internet health information seeking in persons with a chronic medical condition, there is limited data among US adults with diabetes. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine factors associated with internet health information seeking in US adults with diabetes and whether there was a disparity in internet information-seeking stratified by race/ethnicity. METHODS We conducted a cross-section study using the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) data from 2017 to 2020. We selected our study sample based on respondents' reports on whether they were told they had diabetes, and our primary outcome was internet health information seeking. We used two multivariable logistic regression models to examine the effects of sociodemographic factors and other covariates on internet health information-seeking in adults with diabetes. Jackknife replicate weights were used to provide bias-corrected variance estimates. RESULTS Our study sample includes a total of 2903 adults who self-reported they had diabetes. 60.0% were White (1744/2903), 44.9 % males (1336/2850), and 64% had some college or graduate education level (1812/2831). The prevalence of internet health information seeking in this population was 64.5% and the main factors associated with internet health information seeking include education level (Some college versus less than high school: OR = 1.42, 95% CI = [1.44, 1.88]; College graduate or higher versus less than high school: OR = 2.50, 95% CI = [1.79, 3.50] ), age (age group 65+ versus 18 to 44 years: OR = 0.46, 95% CI = [0.34, 0.63], and house income level (p<.001). Additionally, we found differences in the effects of predictors stratified by race. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that internet health information-seeking is common among US adults with diabetes. Internet health information could influence the self-management and quality of life of adults with diabetes in many ways. CLINICALTRIAL Not Applicable.