Abstract
Background
A significant majority of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) search the Internet for information about their disease. While patients who search the Internet for disease or treatment information are believed to be more resistant to accepting medical therapy, no studies have tested this hypothesis.
Methods
All IBD patients over a 3-month period across three gastroenterology practices were surveyed about their disease, treatments, websites visited, attitudes toward medications, and their willingness to accept prescribed therapies after disease-related Internet searches.
Results
Of 142 total patients, 91 % of respondents searched the Internet for IBD information. The vast majority (82 %) reported taking medication upon their doctor’s recommendation and cited the desire to acquire additional information about their disease and prescribed therapies as their most important search motivator (77 %). Internet usage did not affect the willingness of 52 % of our cohort to accept prescribed medication.
Conclusion
The majority of IBD patients who searched the Internet for disease and treatment-related information were not affected in their willingness to accept prescribed medical therapy.
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Feathers, A., Yen, T., Yun, L. et al. Internet Searches About Therapies Do Not Impact Willingness to Accept Prescribed Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients. Dig Dis Sci 61, 1013–1020 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-015-3981-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-015-3981-5