Computer and Internet Use in a Community Health Clinic Population

Objective. To determine if patients from a community health clinic have access to computers and/or the Internet and if they believe a computer is useful in their medical care.Methods. A convenience sample of 100 subjects, aged 50 years and older, from a community health clinic in Nashville, Tennessee, completed a structured interview and a health literacy assessment. Results. Of the 100 parti-cipants, 40 did not have any computer access, 27 had com-puter but not Internet access, and 33 had Internet access. Participants with computer access (with or without Inter-net) had higher incomes, higher educational status, and higher literacy status than those without computer access. Of participants reporting current computer use (n = 54), 33 % reported never using their computer to look up health and medical information. Of those who ‘‘never’ ’ used thei