ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2012
'I need her to be a doctor': patients' experiences of presenting health information from the internet in GP consultations.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Physician Perspectives on Internet-Informed Patients: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- A mixed methods systematic review of the effects of patient online self-diagnosing in the 'smart-phone society' on the healthcare professional-patient relationship and medical authority.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2020Pooled it
- Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Assisted Self-Diagnosis and the Patient-Physician Relationship: Mixed Methods Study of Calibration, Participation, and Trust.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Seeking But Not Discussing Online Health Information With Physicians: Cross-Sectional Survey Study of eHealth Literacy-Empowerment Profiles and Patient-Centered Communication.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Quality Analysis of YouTube and Facebook Videos for Glaucoma Treatment Options.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Health information-seeking behavior among users of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM).BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Article
- Exploring patients' adherence to antibiotics by understanding their health knowledge and relational communication in encounters with pharmacists and physicians.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2023Article
- How Physicians Tackle Internet-Misinformed Patients: Going Beyond Traditional Patient-Centered Communication - A Study Protocol.Advances in medical education and practice · 2023Article
- Premature consent and patient duties.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2021Article
- Teaching Shared Decision Making to Undergraduate Medical Students.Rambam Maimonides medical journal · 2021Article
- Web-information surrounding complementary and alternative medicine for low back pain: a cross-sectional survey and quality assessment.Integrative medicine research · 2021Article
- Usage of eHealth/mHealth Services among Young Czech Adults and the Impact of COVID-19: An Explorative Survey.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Qualitative study: patients' enduring concerns about discussing internet use in general practice consultations.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Combining patient talk about internet use during primary care consultations with retrospective accounts. A qualitative analysis of interactional and interview data.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2021Article
- Medical student support for vulnerable patients during COVID-19 - a convergent mixed-methods study.BMC medical education · 2020Article
- Statins in a Distorted Mirror of Media.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2020Review
- Article
- A randomized controlled trial of online symptom searching to inform patient generated differential diagnoses.NPJ digital medicine · 2019Article
- Online health information seeking by adults hospitalized for acute coronary syndromes: Who looks for information, and who discusses it with healthcare providers?Patient education and counseling · 2018Article
- Health care experiences of mothers of children with bronchiectasis in Counties Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand.BMC health services research · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPatients are increasingly using the internet for health-related information and may bring this to a GP consultation. There is scant information about why patients do this and what they expect from their GP.
aimThe aim was to explore patients' motivation in presenting information, their perception of the GP's response and what they wanted from their doctor. DESIGN AND
settingQualitative study based in North London involving patients with experience of bringing health information from the internet to their GP.
methodSemi-structured face-to-face and telephone interviews using a critical incident technique, recorded, transcribed verbatim, and subjected to thematic analysis by a multidisciplinary team of researchers.
resultsTwenty-six interviews were completed. Participants reported using the internet to become better informed about their health and hence make best use of the limited time available with the GP and to enable the GP to take their problem more seriously. Patients expected their GP to acknowledge the information; discuss, explain, or contextualise it; and offer a professional opinion. Patients tended to prioritise the GP opinion over the internet information. However, if the GP appeared disinterested, dismissive or patronising patients reported damage to the doctor-patient relationship, occasionally to the extent of seeking a second opinion or changing their doctor.
conclusionThis is the first in-depth qualitative study to explore why patients present internet information to their GP within the consultation and what they want when they do this. This information should help GPs respond appropriately in such circumstances.
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