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 Information Medical literature doubles every 7 yrs med articles/day > STM journals.

Sources of Health Information Healthcare Professionals & consumers: May 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 Kill 3 jumbo-jet loads of patients every two days, JAMA % of all preventable adverse drug events are directly related to inadequate dissemination of drug info, JAMA % of new drugs are withdrawn or relabeled, JAMA Very important to be up-to-date

Information is Needed for EBM

Randomized Controlled Trial

Consumer 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.com Boolean (default AND) “phrase search” inurl:.gov inurl:.edu inurl:.org filetype:pdf Translation [arabic] ~work satisfaction define:infection Advise: use Google if you do not find 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 Certification Many 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 …