Issue link: https://blog.providence.org/i/1009460
Hopelab & Well Being Trust 36 Differences by Age Young adults (18- to 22-year-olds) are more likely than teens (14- to 17-year-olds) to say they access all types of online health resources – information, peer advice, personal stories, connections to health providers, and health-related apps. There are no differences in how helpful those in different age groups find the online resources they use. • Ninety-four percent of young adults say they have gone online for health information, compared to 79% of teens. The largest differences are in the older group's searches for information on pregnancy (a 28 percentage point difference), anxiety (26 point difference), depression (23 point difference), birth control (22 point difference), and stress (22 point difference). • Seventy-six percent of young adults say they have tried a health-related mobile app, compared with 49% of teens. On average, young adults say they have tried two health apps, whereas teens have typically tried just one. A third (34%) of the older group reports currently using a mobile health app, compared to 14% of the teens. • More than two-thirds (69%) of young adults say they have watched or read something online about other people's health experiences, compared to 52% of teens. • Half (51%) of young adults say they have tried to find people online with health concerns similar to their own, compared to 25% of teens. • One in five (20%) young adults report sharing their own health experiences online, whether through social media, blog posts, or videos; 8% of teens report doing so. • Nearly three in ten (28%) young adults say they have connected to health providers online, compared to 10% of teens. Table 4: Online health seeking, by age and gender Among 14- to 22-year-olds, percent who say they have ever: Source: Hopelab/Well Being Trust Teens and Young Adults Survey, February-March 2018. N=1,337 young people ages 14-22. Note: Superscripts are used to denote statistical significance across rows at p<.05. Items with no superscripts, and items that share a common superscript, are not significantly different. Looked for health information online Used a mobile health app Shared their own health story online Connected to health providers online Watched/read/listened to someone else's health experience online Tried to find people online with similar health concerns to their own Ages 18-22 94% b Ages 18-22 76% b Ages 18-22 20% b Ages 18-22 28% b Ages 18-22 76% b Ages 18-22 51% b Female 91% b Female 71% b Female 14% Female 24% Female 71% b Female 44% b Ages 14-17 79%ª Ages 14-17 49% a Ages 14-17 8% a Ages 14-17 10% a Ages 14-17 49%ª Ages 14-17 25% a Male 83% a Male 57% a Male 15% Male 16% Male 57% a Male 33% a Digital Health Practices Demographic Differences in Digital Health Use