'Nearly 20 million Brits' use Google to diagnose health symptoms

Before consulting GP

Adam Saville
clock • 1 min read

Over a third using online self-diagnosis to decide whether they need to see a medical expert

A study of more than 1000 UK people by Lenstore has revealed that 59% are Googling their health symptoms before seeing a doctor - an estimated 20 million - with 30% admitting it's because they do not want to put additional pressure on the NHS. More than a third (37%) said they use a search engine to help determine whether they need to see a doctor or not, and 16% admit they have seen a condition go unnoticed as a result of Googling their health symptom. Almost one in four people in the UK never or rarely follow up with a medical appointment, the study showed. The survey also showed th...

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