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Cited by 249Health Literacy and Information AccessibilitySocial Media in Health EducationPatient-Provider Communication in Healthcare

The quality of health information on the internet

Open access
Purcell, G. P·2002·BMJ
DOI 10.1136/bmj.324.7337.557PMC PMC1122494
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Abstract

This week's theme issue attempts to provide a framework for thinking about the quality of health information on the internet—a source of anxiety almost since its first appearance. Five years ago Impicciatore and colleagues reviewed website advice on managing fever in children and concluded that it varied widely in terms of accuracy, completeness, and consistency.1 Pick any medical problem today, and the chances are you'll find the same. With at least 80 studies reporting similar findings (G Eysenbach, personal communication), we need no more convincing that the quality of information on the web varies as widely as it does in other media. In 1997 Gagliardi and Jadad identified 47 instruments for measuring healthcare quality on the internet. Four years later, they found another 51—all of them unvalidated (p 569).2 Generating yet more unproved instruments looks like another activity that researchers could usefully stop. However, the proliferation of tools for assessing quality continues unabated, fuelled by anxieties about patient harm. As our international roundup shows (pp 566-7), countries now seem poised to get in on the act, although little beyond urban myths exists to justify the level of their concerns. …

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  • Previous research showed that more blogs are written by men than by women.

    “Regarding gender, our findings contrasted with previous research showing that more blogs are written by men than by women.6,7,54”

    From Diagnosis Blog: Checking Up on Health Blogs in the Blogosphere (2010) · cites this paper as [54]

  • Health bloggers tend to be younger and better educated than the general population.

    “Like other bloggers—and like people who seek health information on the Internet2,52,53—health bloggers tend to be younger and better educated than the general population.6,7,54”

    From Diagnosis Blog: Checking Up on Health Blogs in the Blogosphere (2010) · cites this paper as [54]

  • Blogs such as these might be devoted to mobilizing people to attend rallies, protests, or marches; sign petitions; raise funds; and support legislation.

    “Blogs such as these might be devoted to mobilizing people to attend rallies, protests, or marches; sign petitions; raise funds; and support legislation.54”

    From Diagnosis Blog: Checking Up on Health Blogs in the Blogosphere (2010) · cites this paper as [54]

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [4]Oxford Center for Evidence-based Medicine. Levels of evidence and grades of recommendations. 2001. http://cebm.jr2.ox.ac.uk/docs/levels.html (accessed February 2002). [Google Scholar]
  2. [13]Standage T. The Victorian internet. New York: Berkley; 1999. [Google Scholar]

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Authors
Purcell, G. P.
Affiliations
European Commission (BE)
Corresponding author
Purcell, G. P
Venue
BMJ
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2002-03-09
Volume
324
Issue
7337
Pages
557-558
ISSN
  • 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
  • 0959-8138
  • 1468-5833
DOI
10.1136/bmj.324.7337.557
PMC
PMC1122494
OpenAlex
W2136401046
Cited by
249
References
26
Citations by year
2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 15
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • BMJ (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
  • Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
Keywords
health information quality, online health information, website quality evaluation, quality assessment tools, patient harm, online health advice, information accuracy
MeSH terms
Humans, Information Services, Quality Control, Internet

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