I want to find out more about my health. I also want to find out about this new medication I am taking. I will get on the internet and search for information.
These intentions are fine and you should want to find out as much information as possible. The problem is in finding reliable information. The following are some tips for finding health information on the internet.
You should always discuss questions you have about health and medications with your healthcare provider. The internet is meant to be a reference only. Please do not let it serve as a substitute for the expertise of a health professional.
Look Who's Talking
Medical information should be independent of bias and research-based. Bryan Bergeron, MD, evaluated different sources of medical information on the web. His findings are depicted in the graphic below.
Source: Bergeron, B. "Online Patient-Education Options." Medscape General Medicine. 2004: 6(2):54. Last Accessed: 12 January 2011.
Other Tips For Evaluation Health Information on the Internet
- Remember The Oreo! Look at the web address, including the domain name, and try to determine what type of institution is providing the information.
- Check For An Author Or Referenced Work. Good quality, researched information will normally be cited. Also, the author of the information should be qualified to give the information: MD, RN, RPh, etc.
- Check Funding. Ford doesn't sell General Motors cars. Health companies are the same way. Before you buy a new "miracle" drug touted by a website or start practicing a new health regimen, check to see how this website is funded. See who the sponsor is.
- Date. Medicine and medical research change daily and finding current information about a particular topic is very important. Check the website to make sure that the information is up-to-date. If you're not sure, use common sense - health information published on the Internet in 1995 may not be accurate for use today. Also, keep in mind that many websites, especially federal and state government, display the date the page was last updated.
Search for Information
Knowing what you know, try searching for information on high blood pressure (also known as Hypertension).
- Choose either Yahoo or Google and enter Hypertension.
- After viewing the example, use your browser's BACK button to return to this page OR RIGHT CLICK your mouse on the link and tell your browser to open it in a new window.
- Evaluate the website which come up based solely on your knowledge about names.
- Choose the one which looks reputable or trustworthy and then look for some of the elements listed above.
