Direct to consumer advertising via the Internet, a study of hip resurfacing

With increased use of the internet for health information and direct to consumer advertising from medical companies, there is a concern about the quality of the information available for patients. The aim of this study was to examine the quality of health information on the internet for hip resurfacing. An assessment tool was designed to measure quality of information. Websites were measured on credibility of source; usability; currentness of the information; content relevance; content accuracy/completeness and disclosure/bias. Each website assessed was given a total score, based on number of scores achieved from the above categories websites were further analysed on author, geographical origin and possession of an independent credibility check. There was positive correlation between the overall score for the website and the score of each website in each assessment category. Websites by implant companies, doctors and hospitals scored poorly. Websites with an independent credibility check such as Health on the Net (HoN) scored twice the total scores of websites without. Like other internet health websites, the quality of information on hip resurfacing websites is variable. This study highlights methods by which to assess the quality of health information on the internet and advocates that patients should look for a statement of an "independent credibility check" when searching for information on hip resurfacing

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

Recommendations for Using Online Social Networking Technologies to Reduce Inaccurate Online Health Information

This short report highlights patients' increasing use of the Internet and online social networking technologies to seek health information, and the consequences of gaining information from sites with biased or inaccurate health information. Reflecting on the utility of online social networking technologies for reaching large audiences, practical advice is listed for how health providers can use these technologies to improve the quality of health information that patients receive over the Internet. We recommend that health providers use online social networking technologies to communicate with patients and health information consumers and direct them to reputable sources with accurate health information. We outline the steps to this approach

Stop the World Wide Web, I want to get off

Background Increasing number of patients are using the Internet for health information (National Statistics 2007). Traditionally professionals have been the information gatekeepers; key questions were around what information patients should be given. Reviews of information on the Internet have been focused towards analysing the quality of information e.g. Eysenbach et al [1] and Breckons et a 2008[2] Whilst this debate is important patients do not always want this professional centric world and are quietly seizing the agenda. If the professionals are not giving them the information they want, they are going and finding it for themselves. Neither patients nor professionals however yet understand enough about the new options that the Internet affords to be able to develop a shared understanding of how to make best use of it. Web 1.0 brought debate around the quality of the information made available. Web 2.0 however brings the additional complexity of knowing where the information is before it can be questioned. One weakness of some research into health information on the Internet is that a quite common research method is to carry out searches and then analyse the top results (e.g. Biddle et al[3]), which tends to exclude information from Web 2.0 sites. Objective Healthcare professionals are one of the main sources of information for patients; their knowledge of information sources will affect their ability to support their patients. The objective of this research was to explore professionals’ use of the Internet for patient information. Methods A questionnaire was distributed to healthcare professionals attending CPD sessions at an English university. Participation was voluntary, and students assured that this did not affect the session they were attending. The researcher was not involved with the session. Results. In total there were 51 completed the questionnaires. 71% of respondents were nurses. The majority (94%) thought the Internet was a good source of health information. Their use of the Internet was however limited. Most (85%) often used email, far fewer often used instant messaging (29%) or discussion boards (20%). Only 23% reported having an Athens account, the Health Service system for accessing online journals. Few (18%) would usually recommend a website to patients, 33% would never do so. Even less, 8% would usually recommend an online support group, over half (57%) would never do so. Not only were these professionals not recommending the Internet to their patients, they were not using it to locate patient information themselves. Only 16% said they usually used websites that allowed them to create tailored information leaflets for their patients, 32% never using these sites. Conclusion Although these healthcare professionals thought the Internet was a good source of health information this belief was not matched by their actions. Less than one third usually recommended the Internet to their patients, more never did so. Nor were they using the Internet to meet their own information needs. Healthcare professionals education needs to include the Internet as a patient information source so that they are able to advise and support their patients

Perceptions of Information Quality: A Study of Internet and Traditional Text Sources

Information retrieved from the Internet may have more severe information quality problems than information found in more traditional text sources of information such as books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. While anecdotal evidence of problems with the quality of information available through the Internet is available, little empirical research on the topic has been done. This study examines user perceptions of the quality of information found on the Internet and the quality of information found in more traditional text sources. Graduate students who have completed a course project requiring the use of the Internet and traditional text sources of information are surveyed using an instrument that builds on prior research by Wang and Strong (1996) identifying fifteen dimensions of data quality. The findings will provide a basis for the development of interventions to sensitize users of the Internet to information quality issues

Evaluating the quality of library portals

To investigate ways of demonstrating how portal implementations positively alter user information retrieval behaviour. Design/methodology/approach - An opinion piece reflecting on existing evidence about the nature of portal implementations, which extrapolates trends in user behaviour on the basis of these reflections. Findings - Although portal technologies probably do offer a way for libraries to create information tools that can compete with "one-stop shop" Internet search engines, there are likely difficulties in their pattern of usage which will have to be detected by effective quality measurement techniques. Research limitations/implications - An expression of opinion about the possible pitfalls of using portals to optimise users' information retrieval activity. Practical implications - This opinion piece gives some clear and practical guidelines for the evaluation of the success of library portal implementations. Originality/value - This editorial points out that, because the portal can be defined as a deliberate clone of a typical successful Internet search engine and may be presented to the naïve user in the same terms, the danger is that library portals might also clone the same information habits as Internet search engines, because of their ease of use. In trying to produce a tool that can meet Google on its own terms but with better content, we might reproduce some of the same educational disbenefits as Google: quality information retrieval is not purely a function of content, it is also a function of the user's perceptions and information habits

Quality of health information for cervical cancer treatment on the internet

BACKGROUND: The internet has become a frequently used and powerful tool for patients seeking medical information. This information may not undergo the same quality consideration as the peer-review criteria for publication of information in a journal. The aim of this study is to assess the quality of internet sites providing information on the treatment of cervical cancer, with comparisons between the quality assessments made by an educated lay person and an expert in the field. METHODS: A search of the World Wide Web was made by a lay person to identify sites containing information on the treatment of cervical cancer. The credibility and accuracy of these sites was assessed using predefined criteria based on 'Criteria for Assessing the Quality of Health Information on the Internet' and accepted guidelines for the treatment of cervical cancer. The assessment was made independently and in duplicate by the lay reviewer and medical expert in order to allow comparison. RESULTS: 46 relevant websites were assessed. Only one site contained all the credibility and accuracy criteria, with a further website containing all the credibility criteria. The majority of sites, 38/46, were deemed easy to navigate. The agreement between lay person and expert was good with only 6 items in total changed by the expert. CONCLUSION: This study clearly shows there is wide variation in quality of websites available to patients on the treatment of cervical cancer. Further research and consideration is needed on the effects of website information on gynaecological cancer patients and how steps can be made to insure the posting of good quality information

The Impact of Internet Health Information on Patient Compliance: A Research Model and an Empirical Study

Background: Patients have been increasingly seeking and using Internet health information to become more active in managing their own health in a partnership with their physicians. This trend has both positive and negative effects on the interactions between patients and their physicians. Therefore, it is important to understand the impact that the increasing use of Internet health information has on the patient-physician relationship and patients’ compliance with their treatment regimens. Objective: This study examines the impact of patients’ use of Internet health information on various elements that characterize the interactions between a patient and her/his physician through a theoretical model based on principal-agent theory and the information asymmetry perspective. Methods: A survey-based study consisting of 225 participants was used to validate a model through various statistical techniques. A full assessment of the measurement model and structural model was completed in addition to relevant post hoc analyses. Results: This research revealed that both patient-physician concordance and perceived information asymmetry have significant effects on patient compliance, with patient-physician concordance exhibiting a considerably stronger relationship. Additionally, both physician quality and Internet health information quality have significant effects on patient-physician concordance, with physician quality exhibiting a much stronger relationship. Finally, only physician quality was found to have a significant impact on perceived information asymmetry, whereas Internet health information quality had no impact on perceived information asymmetry. Conclusions: Overall, this study found that physicians can relax regarding their fears concerning patient use of Internet health information because physician quality has the greatest impact on patients and their physician coming to an agreement on their medical situation and recommended treatment regimen as well as patient’s compliance with their physician’s advice when compared to the impact that Internet health information quality has on these same variables. The findings also indicate that agreement between the patient and physician on the medical situation and treatment is much more important to compliance than the perceived information gap between the patient and physician (ie, the physician having a higher level of information in comparison to the patient). In addition, the level of agreement between a patient and their physician regarding the medical situation is more reliant on the perceived quality of their physician than on the perceived quality of Internet health information used. This research found that only the perceived quality of the physician has a significant relationship with the perceived information gap between the patient and their physician and the quality of the Internet health information has no relationship with this perceived information gap

In the balance: report of a research study exploring information for weight management

This paper uses findings from a research study called Net.Weight to examine the concepts of interaction, information quality and Internet-based information from the perspective of people engaged in managing their weight. The Net.Weight study was a two-year project funded by the British government 19s Department of Health and located in the city of Brighton and Hove. It examined the potential for increased, innovative and effective uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support the self management of weight. The study had several inter-related research strands and the findings discussed in the paper emerged primarily from participatory learning workshops and evaluative interviews. The paper demonstrates that the interaction between people is an important aspect of the information process, which is often neglected in the literature. It suggests that exploring the user-user dimension might add to the understanding of information effectiveness. It also suggests that an approach to information and health literacy which includes a social as well as an individual perspective is necessary. On quality assessment, it supports findings from other studies that organisational authority is a key measure of reliability for lay users and that quality assessment tools have a limited role in the assessment process. The Net.Weight participants embraced the Internet as a medium for weight management information only when it added value to their existing information and weight management practices and when it could be integrated into their everyday lives

Scoliosis Related Information on the Internet in China: Can Patients Benefit from This Information?

Background: There has been an increasing popularity of searching health related information online in recent years. Despite that considerable amount of scoliosis patients have shown interest in obtaining scoliosis information through Internet, previous studies have demonstrated poor quality of online information. However, this conclusion may vary depending on region and culture. Since China has a restricted Internet access outside of its borders, the aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of scoliosis information available online using recognized scoring systems and to analyze the Internet as a source of health information in China. Methods: A survey-based questionnaire was distributed to 280 respondents at outpatient clinics. Information on demographics and Internet use was collected. Binary logistic analysis was performed to identify possible predictors for the use of Internet. In addition, the top 60 scoliosis related websites assessed through 4 search engines were reviewed by a surgeon and the quality of online information was evaluated using DISCERN score and JAMA benchmark. Results: Use of the Internet as a source for scoliosis related information was confirmed in 87.8% of the respondents. College education, Internet access at home and urban residence were identified as potential predictors for Internet use. However, the quality of online scoliosis related information was poor with an average DISCERN score of 27.9±11.7 and may be misleading for scoliosis patients. Conclusion: The study outlines the profile of scoliosis patients who use the Internet as a source of health information. It was shown that 87.8% of the scoliosis patients in outpatient clinics have searched for scoliosis related information on Internet. Urban patients, higher education and Internet access at home were identified as potential predictors for Internet search. However, the overall quality of online scoliosis related information was poor and confusing. Physician based websites seemed to contain more reliable information