Young Tech-Savvy Users’ Perceptions of Consumer Health Portals Jim Warren Department of Computer Science / School of Population Health The University of Auckland Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand jim@cs.auckland.ac.nz Abstract Final year undergraduate students taking an elective course in human-computer interaction were invited to undertake a one-hour independently-worked exercise wherein they sought information on a self-selected health issue. Each student was offered one major Australasian website (HealthInsite or everybody.co.nz) and one major non-Australasian website (MedlinePlus, the Health On Net [HON] foundation, or the Mayo Clinic) to try. Students provided specific feedback on the two websites they tried as well as general feedback on desirable features of health websites. 44 of 143 students (31%) submitted questionnaires and agreed to their use in research. Students were significantly more likely to respond that they were able to find relevant information using HON and MedlinePlus as compared to the other sites (odds ratio [OR] 5.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.21-25.16) and more likely to respond that they found enough information with HON or MedlinePlus (OR 6.26, 95% CI 2.10-18.70). Among features students valued in a health website the site search engine was given the highest importance rating (82% ‘very important’). The findings highlight the scale of challenge in putting up a comprehensive health Internet portal and indicate that users are coming to expect a result directly from ‘search’ rather than as the result of navigation in a site. 1. Objectives To inform the design of future consumer health Internet portals, the present study aims to understand what features are valued in a consumer health website by the young, technology-savvy population. 2. Background The level and impact of consumer Internet use for health information has been the subject of significant interest [1-2]. From early in the rise of usage levels, there has emerged concern about the quality of Internet health information [3]. Interventions that take direct aim at the issue of information quality include the creation of major consumer portals such as Australian HealthInsite where all external links are professionally verified and have the approval of the Australian Medical Association - thus aiming to provide a reliable experience for consumers when they start from the portal. The present study is part of an effort to identify the ideal functional capabilities of future health Internet portals. In this study we get feedback on current, major, high-quality health portals from technology-savvy users to gain the perspective of users that, from a technical perspective, know what they are seeing and are not afraid to demand exceptional functionality. 3. Methods Final year undergraduate students taking an elective course in human-computer interaction were invited to undertake a one-hour independently-worked exercise wherein they sought information on a self-selected health issue using each of two websites. Students completed anonymous paper-based questionnaires wherein they identified their past experience with search for health information, rated satisfaction with performance and features of each site, and provided feedback on the features they valued in a health website generally. Each survey pack, on a randomized and order-balanced scheme, directed the student to one major Australasian health portal (HealthInsite or everybody.co.nz) and one major non-Australasian portal (US MedlinePlus, the Health On Net [HON] foundation, or the Mayo Clinic). Students had the option to opt out of the use of the data in research. Aggregate results were the subject of an in-class discussion.