How to Find Quality Health Information?
Presented by
Aida FARHA
Medical Information Specialist
Saab Medical Library
Do You Really Need It ?!?!
Impact of Information – Rochester study changes choice of medication 45% and diagnosis 29%
“An informed patient is a better patient”
“Health is responsibility of provider & patient”
Quality Information…When Needed
Saves patients’ lives,
& Health-care costs
Tsunami of InformationMedical literature doubles every 7 yrs.
5000 med articles/day
>120 000 STM journals.
Sources of Health InformationHealthcare
Professionals & consumers:
May 2005
8 out of 10 Web searches were
for health;
But how much of this info can be trusted???
Most Popular Topics Depression 19% Allergies/Sinus 16% Cancer 15% Bipolar Disorders 14% Arthritis 10% High Blood Pressure 10% …
Lebanese Statistics
Jan 2008 Survey: 75% of Lebanese physicians have access to Internet, 56% access it more than once per week;
No statistics for Lebanese consumers.
Healthcare practice is an uncertain and constantly changing activity
We do much un-indicated care; & much of indicated care is not done, ex. Half of US patients with diabetes, asthma or hypertension receive recommended care, NEJM 2003.
Kill 3 jumbo-jet loads of patients every two days, JAMA 1994.
35% of all preventable adverse drug events are directly related to inadequate dissemination of drug info, JAMA 1995
10% of new drugs are withdrawn or relabeled, JAMA 2002.
Very important to be up-to-date
Information is Needed for EBM
Randomized Controlled Trial
Consumer Health@SML
SML e-Databases has a number of reliable consumer health resources (some are for free and others are though subscription).
Most important one is:MedlinePlus.gov
Search Google.comBoolean (default AND) “phrase search” inurl:.gov inurl:.edu inurl:.org filetype:pdf Translation [arabic] ~work satisfactiondefine:infection
Advise: use Google if you do not find anything @SML, but remember to do evaluation of sites retrieved…
Evaluate Sites – What to look for
Site Source Foundation of specific
disease:- Amer Cancer Society- Amer Lung Association
Recognized health organizations:- Amer Academy of Family
Physicians (AAFP)- Food Drug Admin (FDA)
Site Address .gov .org .edu
Site Owner-Harvard School of
Medicine-Mayo Clinic
Site Date last updated…
Tips for Healthy Surfing Find out if the site is professionally managed
and reviewed by an editorial board of experts Find out if author lists credentials, contact
information, affiliation Use your common sense…
AVOID… Avoid sites that promote or sell
products Avoid sites that claim “miraculous
cures” Avoid outdated sites Avoid online physicians who diagnose
or treat without physical examination and knowing your medical history
Look for HON CertificationMany reliable sites have a seal of
certification from a trusted accrediting organization ex. Health On the Net Foundation (HON)
HOWEVER…
Information provided on the Internet is meant to complement and NOT replace any advice or directions provided by your healthcare professional…
If information you get from Internet contradicts your physician’s directions, you should discuss this issue with him, before taking action…
What Physicians Search
Most widely used tools by physicians: PubMed (from SML databases) UpToDate (from SML databases) Cochrane (for evidence) Google…
Thank You, Any Questions…