The Internet Usage Behaviour and Access Patterns of the Patients to the Health Information on the Internet

The fast change in the world of internet is also revealed in health sector which led to changes in both the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses together with some particular changes in patients’ perceptions, attitude and behaviour. The patients who once used to be just passive information receivers have turned into active information users based on this structural change and this, in turn, led to differentiations in patient-medical doctor relationships. This new type of patient, who is more active and efficient, is also in close contact with their doctor during the treatment process. This new patient profile also has a new set of behaviour as to seek the missing parts of the information which has not been adequately provided by the doctors due to time constraints and/or access the negative aspects of the informati- on not provided by the doctors in addition to questioning the professional competence and expertise of their doctors. As a matter of fact the 13,6 % of the doctors state that every day at least one patient demands to discuss a piece of informati- on they have gathered from the internet with themselves whereas 36,4 % of the doctors state that every week at least one patient demands to discuss a piece of information they have access over the internet with themselves. Additionally, it was also found out that these patients who are searching for health related information by means of some key words, are, from time to time, faced with some complex clusters of information whose accuracy needs to be questio- ned. In this respect, it is highly probable that the internet and the social networks can prove to be useful for the patients to access the accurate information, to socialize properly and to lead peaceful lives. The purpose of this study is to examine the online behaviour and attitudes of the patients which are indispensable in the way that these individuals can manage their illnesses and their related impacts. Additionally, in the present study, pati- ents with hereditary and rarely encountered diseases such as haemophilia and bleeding disorders have been observed on the basis of their behaviour and attitudes together with their detailed and confidential information.