OBJECTIVES : The number of people using the internet for health information seeking is increasing, but how this relates to health care utilization is unclear. A better understanding of the association between health-seekers and health care utilization may provide insight to guide future decisions on how online health information impacts utilization of services.

METHODS : This study’s sample is from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) database (Cycle 1 of HINTS 5 in 2017), a nationally-representative mail survey administered in English and Spanish by the National Cancer Institute. The exposure of interest is online health information seeking and the outcome of interest is the number of visits to a doctor/nurse/health professional to obtain care in past 12 months.

RESULTS : Overall, 71% of respondents looked for online health information for themselves (online health seekers). Online health seekers were more likely to be female (52.4% vs 47.5%), aged 40-60 than aged >60 (40.2% vs 36.3%), of higher education, and have 1 or fewer chronic disease conditions than those who were not online health seekers. Compared to respondents with no health care visits, online health seekers have 2.3 to 3.5-fold higher odds of having health care professional visits compared to those who do not look for health information online.

CONCLUSIONS : This study shows that people who look online for health information, compared to those who don't, are more likely to see a health care professional at all levels of the outcome compared to those who have no health care visits in past 12 months.