ArticlePloS one2020
Studying health-related internet and mobile device use using web logs and smartphone records.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Effects of Website Traits and Medical Skepticism on Patients' Willingness to Follow Web-Based Medical Advice: Web-Based Experiment.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- Investigating Online Discussions About Cancer Screening on Twitter (Subsequently Rebranded as X): Corpus Analysis.JMIR infodemiology · 2026Article
- Development and Preliminary Evaluation of the OCODES Digital Strategy in Response to Health Misinformation: Nominal Group Technique and Retrospective Usability Evaluation Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Comprehensiveness, quality, and readability of non-invasive prenatal testing information on Japanese medical institution websites.PEC innovation · 2026Article
- Evaluating the quality of online patient education materials for gastric adenocarcinoma.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Determinants of the Availability of Special Diet Meals in Public Schools from Kraków (Poland): A Cross-Sectional Analysis.Nutrients · 2025Observational
- The good, the bad, and the ugly: A qualitative evaluation of web-based COVID-19 vaccine communication in Canada.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Article
- Assessing the Usability, Feasibility, and Engagement in IM FAB, a Functionality-Focused Micro-Intervention to Reduce Eating Disorder Risk.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Spatial distribution of internet use and its determinants among reproductive age women in Jordan evidence 2023 DHS: a multilevel mixed effect analysis.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Can ChatGPT Provide Patient-Friendly and Reliable Information on Cervical Cancer Screening? A Study of ChatGPT-Generated Information in Polish.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025Article
- Using WhatsApp for Nutrition Surveillance Among Children Under 5 Years in West Java, Indonesia: Cross-Sectional Survey and Feasibility Study.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2025Article
- Health literacy in Ireland: insights from rural and urban community perspectives.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- Predictors of Dietary Supplement Use Among Children Attending Care and Educational Institutions in Krakow, Poland.Nutrients · 2024Observational
- Purchasing medicines and functional foods on the internet: a cross-sectional study investigating the knowledge, attitudes, and experience of Vietnamese people in 2023.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Mixed methods assessment of the influence of demographics on medical advice of ChatGPT.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2024Article
- Exploring the Thoughts, Needs and Fears of Chemotherapy Patients-An Analysis Based on Google Search Behavior.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Digital health literacy and associated factors among internet users from China: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- The association between interest of nutritional supplements and COVID-19 pandemic - evidence from Google Trends.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Perceptions of surgery in Nicaragua: A cross-sectional survey study within the surgery for the people project.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Exploring the relationship between website quality and equity in living donor kidney transplant.Frontiers in transplantation · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many people use the internet to seek information that will help them understand their body and their health. Motivations for such behaviors are numerous. For example, users may wish to figure out a medical condition by searching for symptoms they experience. Similarly, they may seek more information on how to treat conditions they have been diagnosed with or seek resources on how to live a healthy life. With the ubiquitous availability of the internet, searching and finding relevant information is easier than ever before and a widespread phenomenon. To understand how people use the internet for health-related information, we use data from a sample of 1,959 internet users. A unique combination of data containing four months of users' browsing histories and mobile application use on computers and mobile devices allows us to study which health websites they visited, what information they searched for and which health applications they used. Survey data inform us about users' socio-demographic background, medical conditions and other health-related behaviors. Results show that women, young users, users with a university education and nonsmokers are most likely to use the internet and mobile applications for health-related purposes. On search engines, internet users most frequently search for pharmacies, symptoms of medical conditions and pain. Moreover, users seem most interested in information on how to live a healthy life, alternative medicine, mental health and women's health. With this study, we extend the field's understanding of who seeks and consumes health information online, what users look for as well as how individuals use mobile applications to monitor their health. Moreover, we contribute to methodological research by exploring new sources of data for understanding humans, their preferences and behaviors.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.