摘要：First- and second-level digital divides are of great concern in health communication research and practice. It is feared that the increased importance of online health information might also increase informational inequalities between those who can and those who for different reasons cannot benefit from online health communication. Using a largescale representative survey from the 28 member states of the European Union (N = 26 566); we investigated macro-level divides between countries and micro-level divides based on sociodemographic and health-related individual characteristics. The Internet is established as a channel for health communication for substantial parts of the European population. Yet meaningful differences were still persistent even within the highly-developed region of the EU. Internet access divides were most pronounced in comparison; both at the macro and the micro level. Substantial differences were also found between the users of health-related Internet services regarding a wider range of online practices and online health literacy.
关键词：Health communication; digital divides; online health information seeking; health-related Internet use; European comparison; representative general population survey
