Adolescent cybersurfing for health information - A new resource that crosses barriers

Objective: To examine adolescents' use of and attitudes toward accessing he alth information through the Internet. Design: Cross-sectional, school-based survey. Participants: A socioeconomically and ethnically diverse sample of 412 subu rban New York 10th graders (mean [SD] age, 15.8 [0.68] years). Main Outcome Measures: Accessing the Internet for health information. Results: Half (49%) of the sampled adolescents had used the Internet to get health information. Topics most often explored through the Internet includ ed sexually transmitted diseases; diet, fitness, and exercise; and sexual b ehaviors. Adolescents found Internet information to be of high value (using a composite gauging worth, trustworthiness, use, and relevance), with no s ignificant differences related to sex, ethnicity, or mother's education. Wh en considering 11 separate health topics, girls found it more valuable to h ave information on birth control, diet and nutrition, exercise, physical ab use, sexual abuse, and dating violence. Only for alternative medicine were there differences by ethnicity, and there were no differences based on moth er's education for the value of having specific health information availabl e through the Internet. Conclusion: For adolescents, the Internet is an accessed and valued informa tion source on a range of sensitive health issues.