Summary

Background: European citizens are increasingly being offered Internet health services. This studyinvestigated patterns of health-related Internet use, its consequences, and citizens' expectationsabout their doctors' provision of e-health services.Methods: Representative samples were obtained from the general populations in Norway,Denmark, Germany, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Latvia. The total sample consisted of 7934respondents. Interviews were conducted by telephone.Results: 44 % of the total sample, 71 % of the Internet users, had used the Internet for healthpurposes. Factors that positively affected the use of Internet for health purposes were youth,higher education, white-collar or no paid job, visits to the GP during the past year, long-term illnessor disabilities, and a subjective assessment of one's own health as good. Women were the mostactive health users among those who were online. One in four of the respondents used the Internetto prepare for or follow up doctors' appointments. Feeling reassured after using the Internet forhealth purposes was twice as common as experiencing anxieties. When choosing a new doctor,more than a third of the sample rated the provision of e-health services as important.Conclusion: The users of Internet health services differ from the general population when itcomes to health and demographic variables. The most common way to use the Internet in healthmatters is to read information, second comes using the net to decide whether to see a doctor andto prepare for and follow up on doctors' appointments. Hence, health-related use of the Internetdoes affect patients' use of other health services, but it would appear to supplement rather than toreplace other health services.