Health Information on the Internet

Abstract

Accessing health information using search engines and simple search terms is not efficient. Coverage of key information on English- and Spanish-language Web sites is poor and inconsistent, although the accuracy of the information provided is generally good. High reading levels are required to comprehend Web-based health information.

Design and Testing of a Tool for Evaluating the Quality of Diabetes Consumer-Information Web Sites

“…Comprehensiveness scores were substantially higher (58% and 59% median and mean, respectively) than accuracy scores (43% and 44%). This finding differs from the RAND/CHCF study [ 17 ] that evaluated "coverage" and "correctness," and found that Web sites were more likely to be accurate than to cover the clinical terrain comprehensively. As stated above, one of the areas for further clarification in this tool is the distinction between comprehensiveness and accuracy.…”

Evaluation of Quality and Readability of Health Information Websites Identified through India’s Major Search Engines

“…By using three readability formulas FRES, FKGL, and SMOG, we found that the majority of the health information websites were written in language which cannot be comprehended by a recommended sixth-grade reading level. The results were consistent with other studies [ 11 , 14 ]. So, even if there is increased access to the Internet, the online health information is still hard to understand by majority of the people.…”

Use of the Internet by Patients Before and After Cardiac Surgery: An Interdisciplinary Telephone Survey

“…Our findings support in part Berland et al's [14] conclusions from the patients point of view. Although the majority of patients could easily find general medical information, only a few patients (3/18, 16.7%) were actually able to retrieve specific information concerning innovative surgical treatments.…”