Unreliability of internet child health advice
Posted by Celia Walter | 16 Apr, 2010A team at the Nottingham University Hospitals Trust have shown that using Google to seek advice on common medical issues in children can lead to incorrect information. Paul Scullard and colleagues reported in the April issue of Archives of Disease in Childhood that Googling for information on such topics as autism and MMR vaccine, the sleeping position of a baby, what action to take with a baby producing green vomit, and breast feeding with mastitis or HIV, gave unreliable results. Of the 500 websites searched, 39% gave the correct answer, 11% were incorrect, and 49% didn’t answer the question. Government sites such as NHS Direct or NHS Choices gave uniformly accurate information. The story was also carried by BBC Health News... [more]
From Intute blog: Medicine