How Many U.S. Adults Use Social Media Resources for Health-Related Purposes?

In 2010, 89 million U.S. adults tapped social media resources for health-related purposes, compared with 63 million in 2008 and 38 million in 2007, according to a Manhattan Research study.

Consumers who used social media for medical purposes created or consumed content on blogs, chat rooms, message boards, online communities and patient testimonials.

The study found that once online, certain medical condition groups that tend to skew older, such as patients with cancer, are more likely to use social media for health reasons than their average age would predict.

Results are based on a Q3 2010 survey of 8,606 U.S. adults ages 18 and older.

Source: Manhattan Research, "Cybercitizen Health U.S."

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