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Objective: To survey a cross section of patients presenting to three urban primary care clinics to understand online health information search behaviors.

Design and analysis: At three urban primary care clinics affiliated with University at Buffalo, School of Medicine, 315 patients were interviewed. Interview questions included items on education, demographic information, employment, number of current prescriptions, insurance, online access, and specifics of health-searching behaviors. Chart review determined patient body mass index and number of chronic illnesses. Logistic regression and χ² statistics were used to investigate the relationship between patient characteristics and the proportion of patients who use the Web for seeking health information.

Results: Approximately 53% of respondents reported using Web or e-mail in the past year and 68% (33% of total sample) of those …