The internet has changed the clinical landscape. Information on the rarest of diseases and disorders can be found online in a matter of seconds. Doctors are no longer the sole source of medical information for their patients. Before their appointments patients are putting their symptoms into Google or other search engines and may already have ‘self-diagnosed’ and decided what treatment they would like before they arrive.
Patients Bringing Internet Health Information to Appointments
A survey of US doctors in 2003 (1) showed that 85% had patients that had brought internet health information to an appointment. The quality of the information had an impact on both patient care and the doctor: patient relationship. Accurate, relevant information helped, while irrelevant information did not. No surprises there! Interestingly, some doctors felt that the patient was challenging their authority and this, in some cases, caused deterioration in the doctor: patient relationship.
It has been estimated that doctors have more than 2 million facts in their heads which are called into play when they need to make a differential diagnosis – that is to differentiate which condition their patient has from other conditions, based on the history and symptoms of the complaint. Even so, when diagnosis proves difficult, doctors are turning to the internet. Studies show that with their clinical experience and education in life sciences they are more likely to enter accurate search terms and therefore come up with a more accurate diagnosis.
Study Looks at the Accuracy of Googled Diagnoses
A 2006 study (2) looked at the accuracy of diagnoses gained from Google. Australian researchers based their study around a year’s worth of cases, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. They found that diagnoses from Google searches produced the correct diagnosis in 15 of the 26 cases. Searches were more likely to be successful for conditions with unique signs and symptoms that could be used as search terms, as opposed to non-specific symptoms or rare presentations of a disease. Everything, the researchers suggest, could be found on the internet if only one knew the correct search terms.
Asking the Right Questions about Health Sites
So how accurate is this health information from the Internet? The Internet encapsulates the entire spectrum from personal accounts of health and illness on blogs, right through to peer reviewed journal articles and medical databases. Unfortunately the burden of verifying information rests with the end user – that’s you. Ask the following questions:
- Who pays for the site and what is its purpose?
- Is the information current? Does it contain information (e.g. references) on where the information was sourced so that it can be verified?
- Who wrote the material and what are their qualifications?
Internet search engines may have some of the answers, but they can’t interact with you, pick up that you’re a bit off colour, or low in mood, or examine a wound, much less suture it! Knowledge is power, but nothing beats years of clinical experience – yet.
(1)Murray E, Lo B, Pollack L, Donelan K, Catania J, Lee K, Zapert K, Turner R
“The Impact of Health Information on the Internet on Health Care and the Physician-Patient Relationship: National U.S. Survey among 1.050 U.S. Physicians”J Med Internet Res 2003;5(3):e17
(2) Hangwi Tang and Jennifer Hwee Kwoon Ng “Googling for a diagnosis-use of Google as a diagnostic aid: internet based study” British Medical Journal 2006;333:1143-1145 (2 December)
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