Online medical reference

Citation

Latham, B. (2010), "Online medical reference", Reference Reviews, Vol. 24 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/rr.2010.09924aag.001

Online medical reference

Article Type: Eye on the net: new and notable From: Reference Reviews, Volume 24, Issue 1

When it comes to conducting medical research, the internet is a mixed blessing. After a phone conversation where my father intimated his GP thought some pain he’d been experiencing might be “unstable angina”, I immediately Googled up a storm to see what wealth of information, in five seconds or less, the glorious Internet would choose to bestow upon me this time. Half a glance at the first link, an article from MedlinePlus (medlineplus.gov), told me all I needed to know: “can cause sudden death” via heart attack. I strongly urged my father to drop what he was doing and head to the emergency room. As a librarian, one knows that authoritative sources are always the preferred ideal, but when it comes to information regarding one’s health, they are imperative. Since an attending physician often has neither the time nor inclination to explain or answer all one’s questions (assuming one even knows what questions to ask), patients are increasingly looking elsewhere for their medical information. Since they use this information to make life-affecting decisions regarding their or their loved ones’ health, the information they rely on needs to be accurate and up to date. MedlinePlus is a service of the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, so one can be fairly certain of its authority. But what about sources of information with a more Web 2.0 feel?

Unless they suffer from megalomania, human beings are prone to seek advice, opinions, and recommendations from those in their social circle – friends, coworkers, family and acquaintances. It seems only natural to extend this type of information-seeking behaviour to the web. Mining the collective knowledgebase can be a quick and easy way to find less significant information, but doing this on the internet for medical information removes the element of authority. While one can weigh what one knows of one’s coworker before trying their sure-fire method for treating ringworm, this evaluative element is greatly undermined (if not nonexistent) in the social sphere of the web. Some sites, however, take this into account and attempt to blend a “community” atmosphere for medical information with some type of imposed authority control. A good example is WebMD (www.webmd.com). According to the site, they strive to make sure the information they supply is “credible”, as well as providing forums for more social, community-type interaction. While one should keep in mind that WebMD is funded by companies like Lilly, the site has won numerous awards, and its store of medical knowledge is vast. Where does this medical information come from? The site includes articles containing original material, as well as a variety of articles from other sources – “well known content providers”, as the site calls them (e.g. Good Housekeeping). It also sports an independent review board, made up of four medical doctors. The site is an amalgam of medical information (e.g. 10 Cancer Symptoms Women Ignore), health “performance” issues ( flattening out those abs), and advertisements for health and beauty-related products. It contains a wealth of information (in various formats, from articles to interactive video and media slideshows), as well as calculation tools (e.g. calorie calculators and food and fitness planners that can be personalized to help users meet weight loss goals). In addition to all this, there are RSS feeds, physicians’ blogs, and message boards on health-related topics that provide the public with a place to talk about those weight loss goals and get feedback and advice – not only from others, but also from physicians.

WebMD is now at the centre of a web of related products, such as Medscape (www.medscape.com). This search tool, though free, requires registration and is a combination of news source and medical journal database; it also includes physician optimized access to Medline and conference coverage, as well as a discussion forum where medical professionals can share information. Medscape supports, as a subsidiary site, emedicine (emedicine.medscape.com), which is a continually updated clinical reference source. Its attributed articles undergo peer review, and are written by physicians or those in the health care field. It currently contains articles on over 6,500 diseases and related medical topics, as well as the latest practice guidelines in 38 different clinical areas. There is also RXlist (www.rxlist.com), which serves as a drug index. One can browse drugs by name, and there is also a helpful “pill identifier” feature which allows searching by imprint, colour, shape, or brand, providing images of the medication along with information about it and its uses. The community atmosphere extends even to this sphere, as users (who give their age range plus how long they have been on certain medication) can rate their experience with different drugs. Think Physicians Desk Reference meets message board. Throughout this network of sites, certain features, such as a medical dictionary, remain constant.

Overall, the WebMD suite provides an intuitive interface and a gateway to all kinds of useful and authoritative medical information – as long as one keeps in mind that this network of sites also serves the commercial benefit of the drug and other companies which advertise with and sponsor it.

Bethany LathamInternet Editor, Reference Reviews and Assistant Professor and Electronic Resources/Documents Librarian, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama, USA