WEDNESDAY, Aug. 4, 2010 (HealthDay News) -- The debate about health care reform may be one reason why the number of "cyberchondriacs" in the United States increased from 154 million last year to 175 million this year, a new survey suggests.
The term "cyberchondriacs" refers to people who use the Internet to look for information about health topics, according to the Harris Poll telephone survey of 1,066 adults conducted between July 13 and July 18.
The survey also found that people who look for health-related subject matter on the Internet are doing so more frequently. This year, 32 percent of adults who are online said they search for health information "often," compared to 22 percent last year.
Among the other findings:
In 1998, the number of cyberchondriacs in the United States was just over 50 million adults. That number increased to 117 million by 2005.
More information
The Medical Library Association offers a guide to finding and evaluating online health information.