Should Patients Trust Google News Health Articles?

Aug. 7, 2012 - PRLog -- (Austin, TX)  dailyRx, Inc., recognizes the extreme importance and relevance of a recently published article by Matthew Chung et al., entitled, “Safe Infant Sleep Recommendations on the Internet: Let's Google It.”  One major conclusion of this research is that conventional search engines do a poor job of returning accurate articles regarding infant sleep safety. This study estimates that only about 50% of news websites found and presented by Google search results contained accurate health information on the subject.

"It’s tough for any computer algorithm to understand which health news articles best translate medical research, exclude author biases and ensure clinical accuracy,” said Donald Hackett, Publisher of the dailyRx News Network.  “The most relevant issue in publishing consumer-centric health news is, can news articles empower patients to take constructive action upon their doctor's prescription?”

Although search engines are now fully embraced by both patients and providers as sources of health information, Hackett identifies a number of deficiencies:

•   Software algorithms are not reliable tools to define health news accuracy for patients
•   Approximately 20% of health research may have 'biased' conclusions
•   Computers do not rate health news based on reading level—with only 12% of Americans considered “health literate,” the inability to target news at the 8th grade reading level puts over 90 million Americans at risk for not acting on health information, resulting in costs up to $236 billion annually
•   Search engines are subject to SEO techniques that may or may not return accurate news to the top of the list
•   Search engines are inadequate to the task of vetting content sources and determining conflicts of interest among researchers and/or institutions

“Since 1994, we have known that the search industry would have unique challenges in the eHealth landscape,” said Hackett. “Backlinks, keyword density, and search engine optimized page design can never fully review health article accuracy.”

The Chung research expressly suggests that “providers should consider offering URLs of specific websites that they have identified as accurately reflecting the AAP [American Academy of Pediatrics] guidelines and educating families on how to evaluate health-related websites for trustworthiness.”  

“I believe this recommendation should apply to all digital health news,” said Hackett. “There are credible health news publishers, such as WebMD and HealthDay, which serve as examples of disinterested professionals who carefully vet medical research prior to publication.”


About dailyRx, Inc.

The dailyRx News Network is an emerging leader in publishing health news for consumers and patients alike. dailyRx publishes, aggregates, and syndicates doctor-reviewed news and videos covering a wide range of health conditions, medications, over-the-counter products, and nutraceutical compounds. dailyRx’s original content is written in positive, unbiased, easy-to-understand language and reviewed for efficacy by doctors, pharmacists and therapists. dailyRx is owned by Patient Conversation Media, Inc. (http://www.patientconversation.com)

For more information please visit http://www.dailyRx.com

Contact:
Alex Northington
Alex@patientconversation.com
512.565.7383

Sources:

Matthew Chung, BSc, Rosalind P. Oden, Brandi L. Joyner, MSA, Alexandra Sims, BA, and Rachel Y. Moon, MD, Safe Infant Sleep Recommendations on the Internet: Let's Google It, The Journal of Pediatrics; 2012.

http://www.healthnewsreview.org/

P.J Easterbrook, R Gopalan, J.A Berlin, D.R Matthews, Publication bias in clinical research, The Lancet, Volume 337, Issue 8746; 1991.

Weiss BD, Health Literacy and Patient safety: Help Patients Understand, 2nd ed., American Medical Association; 2007.

Vernon JA et al, Low Health Literacy: Implications for National Health Policy; 2007.

http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/