According to a recent NCI survey, the public’s trust in their physicians has continued to rise in spite of the fact that people report turning to the Internet first for their health information needs. In contrast, trust in the Internet and other more traditional sources such as television has been on the decline. The survey also showed a consistent increase in the number of Americans who communicate with their doctors through e-mail. A letter about the findings from staff who oversee NCI’s Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) appeared March 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

HINTS is the only national survey that examines how people access and use cancer-related information. NCI researchers surveyed approximately 5,000 to 6,000 adults in waves during 2003, 2005, and 2008. The findings build on earlier trends observed in the first two waves of the survey.

“Despite a decade’s worth of exposure to health information on the Internet, the public’s trust in physicians as their preferred source of health information has remained high, and if anything, increased from 2002 to 2008,” wrote Drs. Bradford Hesse and Rick Moser of NCI’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences.

People have experienced data overload, Dr. Hesse suggested, and, because the clarity of online health information is not guaranteed, it can be confusing to them. At the same time, Dr. Hesse said, “we know reputable sites don’t always put information online that’s understandable to the general public.”

The next HINTS will be administered in 2011, and will include items designed to track Healthy People 2020 goals for meaningful use of health information technology.