Primary Care Patients’ Internet Use in a Part of Middle-belt Region of Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Internet use among primary care patients has continued to attract global attention. Aim: This study is designed to determine the percentage of primary care patients that use the internet and to investigate how many of the primary care patients use internet to obtain health information in a part of middle-belt region of Nigeria. Methods and Materials: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study that was carried out in Makurdi; it involved 282 primary care patients. Results: A total of 282 patients were recruited for the study. These were aged 18-80 years with a mean age of 40.3years and a standard deviation of 14.3. Females were 163(57.8%), while the males were 119(42.2%). More than half 154(54.6%) of the patients reported to have used the internet, while 128(45.4%) has never used it. About a third 53(34.4%) of the participants that used the internet indicated using it to obtain health information. Conclusion: The percentage of the primary care patients that used internet in this study is 54.6%. Only 34.4% used the internet to obtain health information. Public health awareness should be encouraged so that patients can reap the health benefits of internet.