The Impact of Web-Based Risk Calculators on Health Risk Perceptions and Information Processing

Every day, millions of Americans use the Internet to obtain health information. To satisfy this demand, organizations deliver a variety of content that promotes awareness and education and informs health-related decision making. Given advances in web technology, new statistical models of disease, and the shift towards shared patient decision making, these e-health services are increasingly complex. Through applications such as personal health records and “health risk calculators ” Internet users can obtain personalized and interactive feedback about their current health state, model-based predictions about their future health, and tailored education about healthy behavior. While providing the public with more content to inform health-related decisions is an appropriate goal, research in health psychology and behavioral decision making suggest the importance of clearly understanding the perceptual and behavioral responses when laypersons are presented with statistical results and personalized risk information. Little research has studied how web-based personalized and interactive health applications actually impact the beliefs and behavior of users. In two separate experiments, we measured the effect of a type 2 diabetes “risk calculator ” website on user information processing and subjective risk perceptions about diabetes. In the first experiment, 100 middle-aged and elderly adults were randomize