Adding Dimensions to the Analysis of the Quality of Health Information of Websites Returned by Google: Cluster Analysis Identifies Patterns of Websites According to their Classification and the Type of Intervention Described | Digital Health

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Introduction

As more patients search for health information on the Internet, many studies have analyzed the quality of health information available on the web for different pathological conditions. There is a concern that, because the Internet is practically not controlled or regulated, this might expose the public to misinformation, particularly those with low information literacy, which is the ability to critically appraise the information (1, 2). This could potentially result in patients turning to non-approved therapies, whose efficacy (and risks associated) has not been scientifically proven. Furthermore, in recent years, there have been an increasing number of commercial websites selling counterfeit medicines, with additional risks for vulnerable patients (3).

Although there are a number of specialized health websites, most patients will use generic search engines, such as Google, to search for health-related information (4), and several studies have tried to address the quality of health information available on the Internet using various methods...............Performing a cluster analysis of websites, based on their classification and the intervention described, can identify patterns of websites pointing patients toward one or more treatments. In the specific example of health-related query studied here, we were surprised that commercial websites ranked low in the search list. In terms of the type of intervention recommended, complementary/alternative medicine occurred more often than approved, EBM-based drugs, but the latter were more frequent in the top 10 results, possibly due to the intrinsic higher IQ features of these websites......