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Non-physicians may reach correct diagnoses by using Google: A pilot study

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National Technical University of Athens   

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Non-physicians may reach correct diagnoses by using Google: A pilot study (EN)
Rafailidis, PI (EN)
Issaris, EA (EN)
Siempos, II (EN)
Spanos, A (EN)
Falagas, ME (EN)
journalArticle (EN)
2014-03-01T01:28:52Z
2008 (EN)
Objective: We endeavoured to determine whether individuals who are not physicians are likely to arrive at correct diagnoses by using Internet resources. Methods: In this prospective study four non-physicians used Google to search for diagnoses. They reviewed the 26 diagnostic cases presented in the case records of the New England Journal of Medicine during 2005; they were blind to the correct diagnoses. The main measurement was the percentage of correct diagnoses arrived at by non-physicians by using Google. The diagnostic success of the four non-physicians was compared to that of four young physicians. Results: The average diagnostic success of non-physicians was 22.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.5-39.7%). There was no statistically significant difference between the non-physicians regarding this outcome (p = 0.11). They took 8.9 +/- 6.7 (mean +/- standard deviation) minutes for case record reading and 17.4 +/- 7.9 ininutes for Google searching per case. Non-physicians performed worse than physicians (50.9% [95% CI 37.4-64.5%]) in regard to diagnostic success (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Non-physicians, at least those who have similar characteristics to the participants in the present study, may occasionally reach correct diagnoses by performing a brief web-based search. Doctors should realise that patients may assume a more active role in their health decision-making process and take this development into consideration in physician-patient interaction. (EN)
Medicine, General & Internal (EN)
Prospective Studies (EN)
pilot study (EN)
Humans (EN)
Male (EN)
Universities (EN)
Young Adult (EN)
Diagnostic test (EN)
medical informatics (EN)
Students (EN)
World wide web (EN)
Female (EN)
Differential diagnosis (EN)
physician (EN)
Diagnosis (EN)
female (EN)
human (EN)
human experiment (EN)
Decision Support Techniques (EN)
health (EN)
reading (EN)
Public (EN)
article (EN)
Sensitivity (EN)
Pilot Projects (EN)
medical record (EN)
prospective study (EN)
decision making (EN)
confidence interval (EN)
Internet (EN)
Consumer Health Information (EN)
adult (EN)
male (EN)
Swiss Medical Weekly (EN)
English
E M H SWISS MEDICAL PUBLISHERS LTD (EN)
National Technical University of Athens
Digital Library of National Technical University of Athens | Dspace@NTUA
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