The majority of American adults look online for health information and most are accessing reviews and comments posted by fellow consumers, according to a new report.

The report, from the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project and the California HealthCare Foundation, shows that 61 percent of American adults look online for health information. Of those, 59 percent have done at least one of the following activities:

• Read someone else's commentary or experience about health or medical issues on an online news group, Web site or blog;
• Consulted online rankings or reviews of doctors or other providers;
• Consulted online rankings or reviews of hospitals or other medical facilities;
• Signed up to receive updates about health or medical issues; or
• Listened to a podcast about health or medical issues.

The report shows that 20 percent of Internet users who have looked online for health information (e-patients) have also contributed comments, reviews or updates.

"We are beginning to see e-patients turning to interactive features both to help them find information tailored to their needs and to post their own contributions," said Susannah Fox, a co-author of the report and associate director of the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project. "They treat the Internet as a supplement to traditional sources of information, using blogs, podcasts and other online resources to deepen their understanding of a condition and sharpen their questions for a health professional."

According to the report, 60 percent of e-patients say they or someone they know has been helped by following medical advice or health information found on the Internet – a significant increase from the 2006 Pew report, which put that number at 31 percent. Just 3 percent of e-patients say they or someone they know has been harmed by following medical advice or health information found on the Internet, a number that has remained stable since 2006.

"Mobile access allows people to be 'always present' to each other and that seems to draw them into conversations about health," said Sydney Jones, a co-author of the report and research assistant at the Pew Internet Project. "The early Internet provided e-patients online tools that enabled research. Now the mobile, social Internet enables connection and conversation."

According to the report, despite the increasing popularity of social network sites and status update services, few people are using them to gather and share health information:

• 39 percent of e-patients use a social networking site like MySpace or Facebook, and of those, only a small portion have followed their friends' personal health experiences or updates, posted their own health-related comments, gotten any health information or joined a health-related group.
• 12 percent of e-patients use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves or to see updates about others, and of those, few have posted comments, queries or information about health or medical matters.

The report found that American adults continue to turn to traditional sources of health information, with the Internet coming in third (tied with books) behind asking a health professional and talking with friends or family members.