Preventive health information on the Internet - Qualitative study of consumers' perspectives

OBJECTIVE To explore how best to make high-quality preventive health information available to consumers on the Internet. DESIGN Focus groups. SETTING Three urban workplaces and one local hospital with patients from a rural family medical practice. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-two men and 17 women patients, METHOD Qualitative survey of four focus groups, analysis of transcripts and researchers' notes. MAIN FINDINGS Five themes characterized participants' perceptions of a consumer website of evidence-based preventive guidelines: content expectations, website design, trustworthiness of content, marketing, and the implications of consumer health information on the Internet. CONCLUSION Consumers want preventive health information both for taking care of themselves and for participating in a more informed way in their health care when they see a physician. Findings of this study reveal some ways in which consumers' use of Internet health information can affect physicians' and other health professionals' work.