PATIENTS IN SEARCH OF HEALTH INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

In order to examine the scientific evidence regarding the consumption of health information on the Internet by patients, a systematized search was made of the scientific literature published between 2007 and 2017, in different sources of information online (Bases de bibliographic data: Medline / Pubmed, Electronic libraries: Virtual Health Library, Scielo, Dialnet, Search engines: Academic Google, Directories: DOAJ, Imbiomed) through descriptors in English and Spanish (MeSH and DeCS). 139 articles were obtained. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 54 studies were selected, comprising a total of 203.680 subjects from different countries in all regions of the world, between 15 and 94 years of age. The percentage of patients using the Internet to search for health information was 48.83% on average (n = 99465). It is concluded that scientific evidence on this subject is still limited, although a significant proportion of patients make use of the Internet, which reflects the need to continue and deepen in this line of research. On the other hand, it is recommended that health professionals assume the commitment of guiding the patient in their information needs, with clear criteria and indicators that allow them to make an adequate use of this medium, for the benefit of their health.