Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe computer and Internet use among an online group and a clinic-based group of people with epilepsy. Greater than 95% of the online group and 60% of the clinic group have access to computers and the Internet. More than 99% of the online group and 57% of the clinic group used the Internet to find health information. A majority of people reported being likely to employ an Internet-based self-management program to control their epilepsy. About 43% reported searching for general information on epilepsy, 30% for medication, 23% for specific types of epilepsy, and 20% for treatment. This study found that people with epilepsy have access to computers and the Internet, desire epilepsy-specific information, and are receptive to online health information on how to manage their epilepsy.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 109-114 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Epilepsy and Behavior |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2008 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study is supported by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through Cooperative Agreement U48 DP000043, Special Interest Project 2-05. We appreciate the support of the CDC Prevention Research Centers Program Office. We thank the Epilepsy Therapy Development Project for their assistance in recruiting participants from Epilepsy.com.
Keywords
- Computer literacy
- Computers
- Epilepsy
- Health information
- Internet
- Patient information
- Self care
- Web
