Canadas doctor shortage drives 37% online for medical advice: poll – National [Video]

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 …