Not All that Gets Viral is Gold

Not all that gets viral is gold:

Evaluating online health resources

Carl Abelardo T. Antonio, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor of Health Policy & Administration

College of Public Health | University of the Philippines Manila

[email protected]

21st PHICS Annual Convention

Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Quezon City, Philippines | 29 May 2015

FIVE PILLARS

Fundamental principles of

Wikipedia1

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia

Wikipedia is written from a

neutral point of view

Wikipedia is free content that

anyone can use, edit, and

distribute

Editors should treat each

other with respect and civility

Wikipedia has no firm rules

21st PHICS Annual Convention || Evaluating Online Health Resources || CT Antonio || 29 May 2015 2


RESULTS: 1433 full text articles from 1008 journals indexed in

Medline, PubMed, or Embase with 2049 Wikipedia citations

were accessed. The frequency of Wikipedia citations has

increased over time; most citations occurred after December

2010. More than half of the citations were coded as definitions (n

= 648; 31.6%) or descriptions (n=482; 23.5%). Citations were

not limited to journals with a low or no impact factor; the search

found Wikipedia citations in many journals with high impact

factors.2

Presentation Outline

Information exchange

in the Internet

age

Challenges of

information on the internet

Making sense of

online health

information

421st PHICS Annual Convention || Evaluating Online Health Resources || CT Antonio || 29 May 2015


Information exchange

in the Internet

age

Challenges of

information on the

internet

Making sense of online health

information


INFORMATION EXCHANGE IN THE INTERNET AGE

Growing internet usage @ PHL

33-M estimated number of

Filipino internet users3

531%growth in internet use

among Filipinos in the past

five years4



The internet as a marketplace of ideas5


• Art. 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion

and expression; this right includes freedom to hold

opinions without interference and to seek, receive

and impart information and ideas through any media

and regardless of frontiers.6


Data never sleeps7

English Wikipedia8

Articles 4,878,955

Pages 36,359,218

Files 855,776

Edits 773,080,212

Users 25,251,523

Admins 1,350

Active users 126,044


▲800 articles/day


Information exchange in the Internet

age

Challenges of

information on the

internet


information


CHALLENGES OF INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET

Anyone can create content9


sites.google.com wordpress.org

tumblr.com www.blogger.com


Content quality not always assured9


Wikipedia comparison Results of study

vs peer-reviewed literature

for 10 most costly medical

conditions in the US

Statistically significant discordance between 9 of the 10

selected Wikipedia articles and their corresponding peer-

reviewed sources (P<.05) .10

vs dietary supplement

references for herbal

supplement information

Articles in Wikipedia in mid-2012 for the 19 top-selling

herbal supplements were frequently incomplete, of variable

quality, and sometimes inconsistent with reputable sources

of information on these products. Safety information was

particularly inconsistent among the articles.11

vs standard medical

textbook for respiratory

topics

Despite the effort placed in creating Wikipedia respiratory

articles by anonymous volunteers (wikipedians), most

articles had knowledge deficiencies, were not accurate.12

vs standard medical

textbook for

gastroenterology and

hepatology topics

Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information for

gastroenterology and hepatology articles. Several

limitations, deficiencies, and scientific errors have been

identified in the articles examined.13


Information may not always be recent9


• It is always easy to assume that websites are kept

up to date, but this is not necessarily true.9


Information exchange in the Internet

age

Challenges of

information on the

internet


information


MAKING SENSE OF ONLINE HEALTH INFORMATION

Tools and techniques

• Quick review method:

▫ Rapid appraisal questions

• Quality checklist:

▫ Health on the Net (HON)

• Critical appraisal tool:

▫ DISCERN Instrument


MAKING SENSE OF ONLINE HEALTH INFORMATION

Rapid Appraisal Questions9

• Who is the author of the website or who owns the

site? Can you find anything about their credibility?

• Is the information provided accurate?

• How up-to-date is the material?


HONcode Site Evaluation

Form (http://www.hon.ch/)

HONcode Principles14

Authority (Give qualifications of

authors)

Complementarity (Information to

support, not replace)

Confidentiality (Respect the

privacy of site users)

Attribution (Cite the sources and

dates of medical information)

Justifiability (Justification of claims

/ balanced and objective claims)

Transparency (Accessibility,

provide valid contact details)

Financial disclosure (Provide

details of funding)

Advertising (Clearly distinguish

advertising from editorial content)


DISCERN Instrument

(http://www.discern.org.uk/)

DISCERN Criteria15

Have explicit aims

Achieve its aims

Be relevant to consumers

Make sources of information explicit

Make date of information explicit

Be balanced and unbiased

List additional sources of information

Refer to areas of uncertainty

Describe how treatment works

Describe the benefits of treatment

Describe the risks of treatment

Describe what would happen without treatment

Describe the effects of treatment choices on overall quality of life

Make it clear there may be more than one possible treatment choice

Provide support for shared decision-making


Summary

• With the internet, information production and

exchange occurs at an exponential rate.

• The quality of information online is not always

guaranteed.

• Tools have been developed to help consumers of

information appraise information on the Internet.


References1Five Pillars [Internet]. 2015 May 2 [cited 2015 May 28]. Available from link.2Bould MD, Hladkowicz ES, Pigford AA, Ufholz LA, Postonogova T, Shin E, Boet S. References that anyone can edit: review of Wikipedia

citations in peer reviewed health science literature. BMJ. 2014 Mar 6;348:g1585.3Montenegro B. PHL Internet users now 38 million, two-thirds under 30 –IMMAP [Internet]. 2014 Sep 25 [cited 2015 May 28]. Available from

link.4Magdirila P. Philippines records the biggest internet population growth globally [Internet]. 2014 Mar 13 [cited 2015 May 28]. Available from

link.5McLaughlin S. Tech Beat: Universal access, open Internet and the marketplace of ideas [Internet]. 2011 Dec 02 [cited 2015 May 28].

Available from link.6Universal Declaration of Human Rights [Internet]. Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 [cited 2015 May

28]. Available from link.7James J. Data Never Sleeps 2.0 [Internet]. 2014 Apr 23 [cited 2015 May 28]. Available from link.8Wikipedia:Statistics [Internet]. 2015 May 24 [cited 2015 May 28]. Available from link.9Keen C, Otter ME. Critical appraisal. In: Walker DM (ed.). An Introduction to Health Services Research. London: Sage; 2014.10Hasty RT, Garbalosa RC, Barbato VA, Valdes PJ Jr, Powers DW, Hernandez E, John JS, Suciu G, Qureshi F, Popa-Radu M, San Jose S,

Drexler N, Patankar R, Paz JR, King CW, Gerber HN, Valladares MG, Somji AA. Wikipedia vs peer-reviewed medical literature for

information about the 10 most costly medical conditions. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2014 May;114(5):368-73.11Phillips J, Lam C, Palmisano L. Analysis of the accuracy and readability of herbal supplement information on Wikipedia. J Am Pharm Assoc

(2003). 2014 Jul-Aug;54(4):406-14.12Azer SA. Is Wikipedia a reliable learning resource for medical students? Evaluating respiratory topics. Adv Physiol Educ. 2015 Mar;39(1):5-

14.13Azer SA. Evaluation of gastroenterology and hepatology articles on Wikipedia: are they suitable as learning resources for medical students?

Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2014 Feb;26(2):155-63.14The HON Code of Conduct for medical and health Web sites (HONcode) [Internet]. 2013 Sep 19 [cited 2015 May 28]. Available from link.15Quick reference guide to the DISCERN criteria [Internet]. n.d. [cited 2015 May 28]. Available from link.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/380893/scitech/technology/phl-internet-users-now-38-million-two-thirds-under-30-immap

https://www.techinasia.com/philippines-records-biggest-internet-population-growth-globally/

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20111202/tech-beat-universal-access-open-internet-and-the-marketplace-of-ideas

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

https://www.domo.com/blog/2014/04/data-never-sleeps-2-0/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Statistics

http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Pro/Conduct.html

http://www.discern.org.uk/quick_reference_guide.php

Not All that Gets Viral is Gold

Health & Medicine

Transcript of Not All that Gets Viral is Gold