Is Medical Advice on the Internet Reliable?

More patients are turning to the Internet for medical advice. To determine the accuracy of online medical information, researchers in the U.K. used key words to search Google for advice about five common pediatric topics: measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, HIV infection and breast-feeding, mastitis and breast-feeding, infant sleep position, and management of green vomit. The first 100 websites listed in the results for each search were evaluated.

Thirty-nine percent of the websites gave accurate information (consistent with current U.K. recommendations), 11% provided inaccurate information (inconsistent with current U.K. recommendations), and 49% did not provide pertinent advice. Information on the MMR vaccine and autism and HIV and breast-feeding was correct in only 65% and 51% of sites, respectively. The websites on the other topics were accurate more than 94% of the time. All government sites were accurate. However, news sites were accurate only 55% of the time, and sponsored sites (sites that pay premiums to be featured prominently in results lists of search engines) were never accurate.