Patient Internet Use in a Community Outpatient Orthopaedic Practice

This study evaluated Internet use among orthopaedic patients in a private practice general orthopaedic setting. Of 154 respondents, twenty percent had used the Internet to research their orthopaedic diagnosis. Search rates were lowest for patients with arthritis and highest for patients with disorders of the spine or back. Seventy percent of these patients who had searched had found their searches helpful, and over 50% of patients who had searched had questions raised that they planned to address with their physicians. Of those patients who did search the Internet, none reported concern regarding the credibility of Internet retrieved material.