Canada’s doctor shortage drives 37% online for medical advice: poll
Global News
Twenty-three per cent of those surveyed said following health advice they found online resulted in a bad reaction or had a negative impact on their health.
A new poll suggests more than a third of Canadians say they have no choice but to seek health information online because they don’t have access to a doctor, further highlighting challenges posed by an ongoing physician shortage.
The online survey by the Canadian Medical Association and Abacus Data conducted last November found that 37 per cent of respondents used medical advice they found online because they couldn’t access a doctor or a medical professional for help.
Twenty-three per cent of those surveyed said following health advice they found online resulted in a bad reaction or had a negative impact on their health.
The survey of 3,727 adult Canadians can’t be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered truly random samples.
The CMA says the number of Canadians turning to online sources for medical help emphasizes the lack of accessible health care across the country, as an estimated 6.5 million people – one in five Canadians – do not have a family doctor or nurse practitioner they see regularly.
CMA president Dr. Joss Reimer called the survey results “extremely concerning.”
“There is no other generation that’s been exposed to so much misinformation, but also had to face the hardship of a health-care system that is overtaxed and not meeting their needs,” Reimer said in a phone interview.
Employment and Social Development Canada says the country currently has fewer doctors per capita than most countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development.
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