The Relationship of Demographics to Consumers´ Use of an Extended Range of E-health Services

E-health usage is often studied at the level of online health portals, which is invaluable in understanding how these important portals are utilized by various health consumers. However, this approach does not provide information about usage of the underlying e-health services, which is crucial in improving the overall success of e-health portals. In this study, we examine variations in use of 12 distinct e-health services based on five demographic factors: age, gender, race/ethnicity, income, and education. Our results highlight the need for examining usage of distinct e-health services. They also show that demographic factors can play a significant role in how these services are used. Because the results of our study provide a fine-grained picture of e-health usage, they extend those studies and observations that are based on overall use of e-health portals or personal health records. Hence, our results provide important insights for the design, development, and management of specific e-health services, which in turn can improve the overall success of e-health portals.