Use of internet resources by patients awaiting gastroenterology consultation

Teriaky, Anouar; Tangri, Vikram; Chande, Nilesh

doi:10.5152/tjg.2015.6043

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(22 reference statements)

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“…Teriaky et al [40] surveyed patients (N=87) awaiting appointments at a general gastroenterology clinic and asked those who reported using the Web prior to their consultations whether this had changed their anxiety levels. In all, 77% experienced no change, 21% experienced an increase, and 2% a decrease.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is possible that using the Web to appraise symptoms causes anxiety, or that anxiety triggers Web use for symptom appraisal, or that a third factor influences both. Furthermore, the surveys that reported on anxiety among online self-diagnosers were biased toward certain demographic [42] or patient groups [40], and did not use validated measures of anxiety levels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Web Use for Symptom Appraisal of Physical Health Conditions: A Systematic Review

Mueller¹,

Jay²,

Harper³

et al. 2017

J Med Internet Res

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BackgroundThe Web has become an important information source for appraising symptoms. We need to understand the role it currently plays in help seeking and symptom evaluation to leverage its potential to support health care delivery.ObjectiveThe aim was to systematically review the literature currently available on Web use for symptom appraisal.MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, ACM Digital Library, SCOPUS, and Web of Science for any empirical studies that addressed the use of the Web by lay people to evaluate symptoms for physical conditions. Articles were excluded if they did not meet minimum quality criteria. Study findings were synthesized using a thematic approach.ResultsA total of 32 studies were included. Study designs included cross-sectional surveys, qualitative studies, experimental studies, and studies involving website/search engine usage data. Approximately 35% of adults engage in Web use for symptom appraisal, but this proportion varies between 23% and 75% depending on sociodemographic and disease-related factors. Most searches were symptom-based rather than condition-based. Users viewed only the top search results and interacted more with results that mentioned serious conditions. Web use for symptom appraisal appears to impact on the decision to present to health services, communication with health professionals, and anxiety.ConclusionsWeb use for symptom appraisal has the potential to influence the timing of help seeking for symptoms and the communication between patients and health care professionals during consultations. However, studies lack suitable comparison groups as well as follow-up of participants over time to determine whether Web use results in health care utilization and diagnosis. Future research should involve longitudinal follow-up so that we can weigh the benefits of Web use for symptom appraisal (eg, reductions in delays to diagnosis) against the disadvantages (eg, unnecessary anxiety and health care use) and relate these to health care costs.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Web Use for Symptom Appraisal of Physical Health Conditions: A Systematic Review

Mueller¹,

Jay²,

Harper³

et al. 2017

J Med Internet Res

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“…Furthermore, people tend to use the internet for determining whether or not they should consult a physician [2]. Younger patients, females, and highly educated individuals are known to search for health information more often than others [3,4]. Internet use has the potential to improve patient empowerment, as well-informed patients tend to play a more active role in their own health care [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patients’ Use of the Internet to Find Reliable Medical Information About Minor Ailments: Vignette-Based Experimental Study

et al. 2019

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BackgroundLittle is known about the exact process of how patients search for medical information on the internet and what they retrieve. There is especially a paucity of literature on browsing for information on minor ailments, a term used for harmless diseases that are very common in the general population and thus have a significant impact on health care.ObjectiveThis vignette-based experimental study aimed to explore what kind of Web-based search strategies are applied and how search strategies, demographic characteristics, and the quality of the visited websites relate to finding the right diagnosis. Additional goals were to describe how searching on the Web influences one’s perception of the severity of the potential diagnosis and whether or not the participants would discuss the information they found on the internet with their doctors.MethodsOut of 1372 survey participants, 355 were randomly sampled, and 155 of them were recruited and assigned to one of four clinical scenarios. Each search term they used was classified as one of three search strategies: (1) hypothesis testing, (2) narrowing within the general hypothesis area, and (3) symptom exploration. The quality of the websites used was determined by using the DISCERN instrument. To compare the diagnostic accuracy of the participants before and after the internet search, a McNemar test was used. Chi-square tests were used to describe which factors are related to the chosen search strategy. A multivariate binary logistic regression model was constructed to predict which factors are related to finding a sound diagnosis after searching the internet for health information.ResultsMost participants (65.8%, 102/155) used the symptom exploration strategy. However, this depends on the assigned scenario (P<.001) and the self-estimated severity score of the symptoms before the internet search (P=.001). A significant relation was found between choosing an accurate diagnosis and age (odds ratio [OR] 0.94, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.98) and the clinical scenario, as well as the use of high-quality websites (OR 7.49, 95% CI 1.85 to 30.26). Browsing the internet did not lead to a statistically significant change in participants’ beliefs about the severity of the condition (McNemar test, P=.85). Most participants (65%) shared their retrieved information with their physician and most of them (75%) received a positive response.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that most patients use a symptom-based approach; however, if patients expect the potential diagnosis to be severe, they tend to use a hypothesis verification strategy more often and are therefore prone to certain forms of bias. In addition, self-diagnosing accuracy is related to younger age, the symptom scenario, and the use of high-quality websites. We should find ways to guide patients toward search strategies and websites that may more likely lead to accurate decision making.

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“…[ 6 ] Similar prior studies found as many as >90% of patients presenting to various outpatient gastroenterology clinics reporting Internet usage for obtaining health-related information, but only a small proportion did so based on advice from their physician. [ 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ] Therefore, searching the Internet without guidance to the websites with high-quality content may leave patients vulnerable to misleading and deceptive information and jeopardize their informed decision-making process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biologic agents in inflammatory bowel disease – quality of internet website information

Rofaiel

Chande

2018

Saudi J Gastroenterol

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Background/Aims:Many patients currently seek the Internet for health-related information without discerning the quality or bias of the evidence presented. Biologic agents have become the mainstay of therapy in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and it is important that patients have access to high-quality information when exploring the various available agents to make informed decisions about their therapy. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of patient-searched Internet websites that describe the biologic agents used as treatment options for IBD. The secondary aim was to compare the quality of patient-searched with physician-recommended websites and to evaluate any differences.Materials and Methods:The DISCERN model was used to evaluate the quality of the information content of a total of 110 websites of all the biologic agents used in the treatment of IBD from July to September 2017. The first 10 “Google search” hits meeting the inclusion criteria for each agent were included. There were four additional physician-recommended websites that were evaluated for the purpose of the secondary aim of this study.Results:The mean DISCERN score among all websites combined was 3.21 out of a 5-point scale. The highest scoring website was “ema.europa.eu” at 4.13 whereas the lowest scoring website was “https://www.fda.gov” at 1.97 for Entyvio. There was no significant difference between patient-searched and physician-recommended websites, with a mean total score of 3.21 versus 3.63, respectively (P value of 0.158).Conclusions:The combined quality of Internet web-based resources used for each drug was fairly consistent in scoring (intermediate to slightly above average). There was no significant advantage in the overall combined scores of the pooled physician-recommended websites when compared with the patient-searched websites.

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Use of internet resources by patients awaiting gastroenterology consultation

Cited by 9 publications

References 16 publications

Web Use for Symptom Appraisal of Physical Health Conditions: A Systematic Review

Web Use for Symptom Appraisal of Physical Health Conditions: A Systematic Review

Patients’ Use of the Internet to Find Reliable Medical Information About Minor Ailments: Vignette-Based Experimental Study

Biologic agents in inflammatory bowel disease – quality of internet website information

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