Evaluation of medical information quality

Abstract

The internet has become a significant source of health-related information in the last ten years. Quality of health-related information is often diverse and uncertain and on the internet environment it should be evaluated by a specific method. This could be viewed as an important part of health literacy skills of the 21st century. For this purpose the indicators of medical information quality are defined based on the dimension of reliability of information quality. The dimensions are derived from three-dimensional scheme by Anton Vedder and it can be applicable in the Czech internet environment. The indicators are: origin, sponsorship, purpose and intent, currency and date, citation and links, accuracy and completeness, clarity and truthfulness. These indicators were selected from established tools for evaluation of medical information quality that are used abroad, like HONCode, MedlinePlus or DISCERN. The indicators are set into the draft of methodics with the instructions for the evaluation of medical information quality on Czech websites. The methodics could be applicable not only in the Czech Republic, but also in other countries, if a socio-political context is similar to Czech. The methodics is divided into two parts: one for non-expert sources in common online environment designed for laymen and one extended version designed for experts. The version designed for expert is a little bit modified and except these indicators also includes criteria for critical evaluation of research papers and reviews. These criteria relate to questions of correct interpretation and collection of information in summaries, and questions on researched subjects, observation and intervention (whether it was done correctly or not), results (e.g. statistical test, effect size) and data interpretation in experimental papers. Both methodics for laymen and experts improves critical thinking and supports better decision making in issues related to health.