Comparative evaluation of web search engines in health information retrieval

Purpose: With this work we intend to evaluate several generalist and health-specific search engines on retrieval of health information by consumers. We compare the retrieval effectiveness of these engines in different types of clinical queries, medical specialties and condition's severity. Finally, we compare the use of evaluation metrics for binary relevance scales and for graded ones. Design/methodology/approach: We conducted a user study in which users evaluated the relevance of documents retrieved by 4 search engines in 2 different health information needs. Users could choose between generalist (Bing, Google, Sapo and Yahoo!) and health-specific search engines (MedlinePlus, SapoSaúde and WebMD). We then analyse the differences between search engines and groups of information needs with six different measures: graded average precision (gap), average precision (ap), gap@5, gap@10, ap@5 and ap@10. Findings: Results show that generalist web search engines surpass the precision of health-specific engines. Google has the better performance, mainly on the top-10 results. We found that information needs associated with severe conditions are associated with higher precision just like overview and psychiatry questions. Originality/value: Our study is one of the first studies to use a recently proposed measure to evaluate the effectiveness of retrieval systems with graded relevance scales. It includes tasks of several medical specialties, types of clinical questions and different levels of severity what, to the best of our knowledge, has not been done before. Also, it is a study in which users have a large involvement in the experiment. Results are useful to understand how search engines differ in their responses to health information needs, to inform about what types of online health information are more common on the Web and to infer ways to improve this type of search. Keywords: Evaluation, Health information retrieval, User study, Graded-relevance, Web search engines Paper type: Research paper INTRODUCTION Patients, their family and friends, commonly designated by health consumers, are increasingly using the Web to search for health information. The last Pew Internet report on health information According to This study evaluates the performance of 4 generalist search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo! and Sapo) and 3 health-specific search engines (MedlinePlus, WebMD and SapoSaúde). The evaluation is based on the data collected in a user study with undergraduate students and work tasks defined according to the framework proposed by Borlun

Manifold-Marketing:a new marketing archetype for the information age, applied to the adoption of oral contraceptives and other drugs by end-users

Taking into account the new communication paradigm of Social Media this paper proposes an original marketing archetype for the information age named by the authors as “ManifoldMarketing”. The conducted study explores the contribution of participating in social networks on the Internet for the adoption process of oral contraceptives (OCs) and other drugs by their end users. Empirical data for this research was collected from a sample of 1162 respondents of a target population formed by Portuguese women, current or potential users of OCs who had reached a level of college education. The results obtained after applying a package of statistical techniques involving descriptive statistics, nonparametric tests and multivariate analysis show that the use of the Internet as well as the participation in the social network Facebook can contribute to the adoption process of OCs. Market segments which are relevant to pharmaceutical marketing were identified based on criteria that associate the information and communication technologies (ICT) with the adoption process of OCs carried out by the consumers themselves. This study also demonstrates that the adoption model and segmentation proposed can be generalized to other markets in the health sector. Considering the obtained results and the proposed "Manifold Marketing", innovative pharmaceutical marketing guidelines are presented.N/

Vital Decisions

Presents findings from surveys conducted in 2001 and 2002. Looks at how Internet users make decisions about what online health information to trust. Includes a guide from the Medical Library Association about smart health-search strategies

Social Media’s impact on Intellectual Property Rights

This is a draft chapter. The final version is available in Handbook of Research on Counterfeiting and Illicit Trade, edited by Peggy E. Chaudhry, published in 2017 by Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785366451. This material is for private use only, and cannot be used for any other purpose without further permission of the publisher.Peer reviewe

Digital marketing actions that achieve a better attraction and loyalty of users: an analytical study

Currently, the digital economy contributes decisively to an increase in competitiveness, especially as a digital transformation involves migrating to new technological models where digital marketing is a key part of growth and user loyalty strategies. Internet and Digital Marketing have become important factors in campaigns, which attract and retain Internet users. This study aims to identify the main ways in which users can be gained and retained by using Digital Marketing. The Delphi method with in-depth interviews was the methodology used in this study. The results of the research show the most important actions for achieving user recruitment and loyalty with Digital Marketing from the opinions of consulted experts. The limitations of this study are those related to the number of experts included in the study, and the number of research papers consulted in the literature review. The literature review and the results of this research are used to propose new solid research with a consolidated critical methodology. This research deals with a new approach that will optimize web technologies for the evolution of user trends, and therefore, will be of academic and professional use for marketing managers and web solution developers. The conclusions of the investigation show the key factors, discarding others that do not affect the optimization of conversions in B2C businesses such as the duration of the session and the rebound percentage. Likewise, the results of the research identify the specific actions that must be carried out to attract and retain users in B2C companies that use the Digital Marketing ecosystem on the Internet. The requirements for companies that wish to implement a model to optimize conversions using the current digital economy are also shown.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Determinants of information behaviour and information literacy related to healthy eating among Internet users in five European countries

Introduction. This study investigates how Europeans seek information related to healthy eating, what determines their information seeking and whether any problems are encountered in doing so. Method. A survey was administered through computer-assisted on-line web-interviewing. Respondents were grouped by age and sex (n=3003, age + 16) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Poland, and the UK. Analysis. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyse the influence of social, demographic, psychological and economic characteristics on the information seeking of the respondents. Results. Nearly half of those surveyed do not know where to look for information on healthy diets. Men, less well educated, poorer and sicker person know less about where to look for such information and are less likely to attempt finding it. Most of the respondents searching for information on the Internet use Google as a search tool. Conclusions. Individual and environmental factors affect information behaviour and should be taken into account in public campaigns aimed at changing eating habits of the population to increase their effectiveness. More emphasis should be placed on raising health information literacy of the information-poor, men, the uneducated, and the economically disadvantaged

Virtual Clinical Trials: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Virtual clinical trials have entered the medical research landscape. Today’s clinical trials recruit subjects online, obtain informed consent online, send treatments such as medications or devices to the subjects’ homes, and require subjects to record their responses online. Virtual clinical trials could be a way to democratize clinical research and circumvent geographical limitations by allowing access to clinical research for people who live far from traditional medical research centers. But virtual clinical trials also depart dramatically from traditional medical research studies in ways that can harm individuals and the public at large. This article addresses the issues presented by virtual clinical trials with regard to: (1) recruitment methods; (2) informed consent; (3) confidentiality; (4) potential risks to the subjects; and (5) the safety and efficacy of treatments that are approved

Patients, Professionals and the Internet: Renegotiating the Healthcare Encounter

The aim of this research was to examine how patient use of internet information impinges on the utilisation of healthcare services. The research had the following objectives: + to quantify the extent, and patterns, of patients use of the internet as a health information resource and identify the factors leading to variations in behaviour. + to identify the search strategies employed by patients in accessing internet health information internet and the evaluative approaches used in assessing information quality. + to analyse the content and dynamics of virtual health communities and how participation in such communities is integrated into engagement with health services. + to document the evolving nature of patient-professional interaction arising from patient access to health information and the subsequent format of the healthcare encounter. + to assess the effect of changing patient access to information and changes in the healthcare encounter on patterns of patient decision making and health behaviours