The use of new technology to access clinical information and training materials on health and wellbeing has become vital for many people around the world, whether patients or healthcare professionals. Thus, the Internet has become a vital tool for 'knowledge translation' in health.


Although the literature on the subject of "Internet and health" is increasingly extensive, there have been very few studies in Spain to examine the patterns in searches for information on health on the Internet and perceptions on the quality of these resources in different population groups, (eg, adolescents, the elderly, women, healthcare professionals, or virtual patient communities). These then are the lines of investigation that a group of professionals at the Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública (EASP, Andalusian College of Public Health) have developed over the last few years.


This article reviews the trends in the use of the Internet as a source of information on health in various population groups and the factors that aid access to these resources. Likewise, it also analyses the codes of behaviour that have been proposed to improve the quality of web pages with contents on health.