Are there any dangers in acquiring medical information on the internet?

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Specialized medical search-engines are no better than general search-engines in sourcing consumer information about androgen deficiency.

Authors:

Ilic D,Bessell TL,Silagy CA,Green S.

Monash Institute of Health Services Research, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia. dragan. Ilic@med. Monash.edu. Au

Background:

The Internet provides consumers with access to online health information; however, identifying relevant and valid information can be problematic. Our objectives were firstly to investigate the efficiency of search-engines, and then to assess the quality of online information pertaining to androgen deficiency in the ageing male (ADAM).

Methods:

Keyword searches were performed on nine search-engines (four general and five medical) to identify website information regarding ADAM. Search-engine efficiency was compared by percentage of relevant websites obtained via each search-engine. The quality of information published on each website was assessed using the DISCERN rating tool.

Results:

Of 4927 websites searched, 47 (1.44%) and 10 (0.60%) relevant websites were identified by general and medical search-engines respectively. The overall quality of online information on ADAM was poor. The quality of websites retrieved using medical search-engines did not differ significantly from those retrieved by general search-engines.

Conclusion:

Despite the poor quality of online information relating to ADAM, it is evident that medical search-engines are no better than general search-engines in sourcing consumer information relevant to ADAM.

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