Is Medical Advice on the Internet Reliable?

Not all Web-based information is accurate.

More patients are turning to the Internet for medical advice. To determine the accuracy of online medical information, researchers in the U.K. used key words to search Google for advice about five common pediatric topics: measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, HIV infection and breast-feeding, mastitis and breast-feeding, infant sleep position, and management of green vomit. The first 100 websites listed in the results for each search were evaluated.

Thirty-nine percent of the websites gave accurate information (consistent with current U.K. recommendations), 11% provided inaccurate information (inconsistent with current U.K. recommendations), and 49% did not provide pertinent advice. Information on the MMR vaccine and autism and HIV and breast-feeding was correct in only 65% and 51% of sites, respectively. The websites on the other topics were accurate more than 94% of the time. All government sites were accurate. However, news sites were accurate only 55% of the time, and sponsored sites (sites that pay premiums to be featured prominently in results lists of search engines) were never accurate.

Comment: Online medical information is highly variable and often inaccurate. Learn the best sources of information for your patients, and recommend government-sponsored sites when available.

— F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Published in Journal Watch Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine April 28, 2010
Citation(s):

Scullard P et al. Googling children's health: Reliability of medical advice on the internet. Arch Dis Child 2010 Apr 6; [e-pub ahead of print]. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/adc.2009.168856)