Dr. google, please help me understand!: The quality of health information found through web searches

Abstract

Many patients have a very high need for information about their health conditions even after doctor consultation. As a result, more and more patients are looking for reliable information on the Internet. But how qualitative are health information found online? This study examines the quality of 49 German websites on health conditions in the field of otolaryngology. The results showed that there is certainly a need for improvement in medical quality, especially with regard to the completeness of the information. The correctness of the information, in general, can be judged as good. However, many sites do not contain references and further information. Consumer health portals scored particularly well while advertising sites performed worst in almost all categories. The readability of the pages is at an average level.