Effects of the frequency of the use of health online communities on the patient physician relationship

Abstract

The world of health has seen overt changes in recent years regarding patients taking over their illnesses, or those of their relatives. Internet has been a real catalyst by enabling people to create many forums where individuals share their pathologies (Websites, blogs, medical social networks…). Online patient communities (OPCs) are part of this dynamic and have thus transformed the role of the patient, who has become more informed in his relationship with his doctor. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of the OPC use frequency on variables, such as trust, quality, and attitude of the relationship with the doctor. Based on a sample of 266 French workforce respondents, the results of the study show that trust and quality of the relationship have a significant effect on the attitude and the relationship of patients with their doctor