ABSTRACT:
Internet now considered as major source to search for health-related information worldwide. The objectives of this study were to explore the use of internet for searching for health and medicines information among Indonesian pharmacies customers. Descriptive study was conducted. Pharmacy customers in 10 pharmacies in Yogyakarta province were conveniently invited to participate. A set of questionnaire consisted of 21 questions including sociodemographic, health status and use of medicines, internet use profile, trust and importance on information sources. Among 674 respondents, 646 (95.56%) of them reported the use of internet to search for health information. Majority of them were women (51.7%), 18-24 years old (63.93%), single status (74.30%) and higher degree of education (50.31%). Respondents most frequently sought for information on the both medicine and health related topic (83.13%). However, they most trusted on information provided by physician and pharmacist with mean score 4.38 ± 0.72 and 4.17 ± 0.75 respectively. Respondent also rated physician and pharmacist as the most important sources to provide health information (4.5 ± 0.72 and 4.21 ± 0.76 respectively). The results highlight the need for educational interventions to increase skills in retrieving high-quality information and advising patients about appropriate use of internet for health purposes.