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Deeper knowledge of physicians' eHealth-related behaviour is needed in different countries. This paper clarifies the usage patterns of eHealth services among European general practitioners. Method. The survey database Flash-Eurobarometer No. 126 'General Practitioners and the Internet' is analysed. Additional socio-demographic variables are also included, such as country, age, sex, location, and size of the medical practice. Telephone interviews were conducted for data collection purposes. Analysis. Latent class cluster analysis was applied to identify homogeneous segments of eHealth adopters among European physicians. Country, age, sex, location, and size of the medical practice were included as covariates in the analyses, in order to obtain a descriptive profiling of the identified segments. Results. The analysis yielded three segments of European physicians using eHealth services. After adding the group of physicians not using the Internet, the following four final segments were identified: Information Searchers, Advanced Users, Laggards and Non-Internet Users. The analysis of covariates in the latent class cluster model showed that country, sex and age were significantly related to physicians' usage patterns of eHealth services. Chi squared analyses were performed to account for the group of Non-Internet Users, further confirming the existence of strong country differences and moderate age influences, but very weak effects of sex on physicians' eHealth-related behaviour. Conclusion. The identification of European physicians' eHealth usage patterns contributes to the development of suitable and adapted promotion strategies, aimed at ensuring efficient adoption processes of Internet technologies among providers of patient care services in the analysed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. This paper offers an investigation of European citizens' adoption and use of Internet-related technologies. European citizens are classified according to their Internet usage patterns. Next, the demographic and behavioural profiles of the identified groups are thoroughly examined, which clarifies citizens' Internet-related behaviour and how external variables are related to Internet uses. Method. Telephone survey, using a random method, in order to guarantee the representativity of each national sample for its universe. Citizens from all European countries (EU-15) were surveyed about their Internet usage patterns. Analysis. Two-Step Cluster Analysis has been applied, to identify the different groups of European Internet users. Discriminant and Correspondence Analysis have been respectively applied to assess the internal and external validity of the identified segments. The statistical package SPSS v11.5 was employed for the empirical analyses. Results. Four segments of European Internet users have been identified: Laggards, Confused and Adverse, Advanced Users, Followers and Non-Internet Users. The behavioural and demographic profiles of the previously identified segments are examined. Next, the internal and external validity of the clusters is assessed. Conclusion. The identified Internet user segments show clear differences with regard to country, sex, occupation, education and location. These results confirm the existence of sociodemographic entry barriers to the use of digital services. Such barriers may to the development and widening of a digital divide among European citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]