In the autumn and winter season, many Poles go down with different types of ailments, ranging from a regular flu or cold to deep depression. Gemius has therefore analysed the popularity of websites devoted to the subject of health and medicine (data from August 2014). It turns out that they are visited by four in ten Polish internet users (8.8 m). Nearly 7.5 m of them go to websites promoting healthy lifestyle and featuring general advice on how to avoid different kinds of infirmities.

Double-checking on the doctors

It turns out that websites providing contact details to physicians and health centres also enjoy some considerable interest. Online medical directories are normally accompanied by opinion and ranking section helping to choose the right specialist and institution. According to the latest Gemius data, this type of knowledge is found attractive by 1.8 m internet users in Poland.

E-pharmacies are visited by nearly every tenth user

The same level of interest has been noted for online pharmacies. They get visited by 1.8 m internet users in Poland, which translates into almost every tenth online audience member of the country. This is a good way to compare the prices of medicines, dietary supplements and other medical products. Some e-pharmacies also spread professional knowledge, e.g. in form of articles or online advise services.

Medical professionals can hone their skills online

Also popular are websites addressed to doctors, pharmacists and paramedics – these are browsed by 1.5 m internet users. Portals for health professionals are mostly concerned with the recent scientific research, specialist publications, training materials, expert comments, information on the upcoming conferences, trainings and courses.

Self-diagnosis and treatment

The analysis allows to conclude that 1.5 m Polish internet users go online to seek information on specific ailments. Most often, this relates to cardiologic (3.4 per cent), gynaecologic (3.3 per cent), and neurologic (1 per cent) problems.

Conventional medicine still on top

Poles also look for information on diagnosis and therapy. Descriptions of pharmaceuticals and procedures are the subject of interest for almost 800 thousand internet users. The websites they visit mainly provide comparisons of prices and effects of medicines, as well as opinions concerning diagnostic centres and medical laboratories. In turn, websites devoted to alternative medicine are visited by half that number of online audience (390 thousand).

Health content attracts women

Websites dealing with health and medicine are mostly popular with individuals over 55, those with post-secondary or higher education and inhabitants of cities larger than 500 thousand. Compared with men, women tend to visit health related sites more willingly. Websites concerned with health and medicine are mainly the interest of pensioners, officials, administration employees, specialists and persons of liberal occupations.

The data quoted originates from an international project (gemiusAudience) conducted by Gemius in more than 30 countries. It aims to research into the number and demographic profile of internet users and the manner in which they utilize the web. The study is performed according to Gemius proprietary hybrid methodology and in accordance with the ICC/ESOMAR international code of conduct.