Evaluating Health Information

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

• Videos and Tutorials

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Patient Handouts

Summary

Millions of consumers get health information from magazines, TV or the Internet. Some of the information is reliable and up to date; some is not. How can you tell the good from the bad?

First, consider the source. If you use the Web, look for an "about us" page. Check to see who runs the site: Is it a branch of the government, a university, a health organization, a hospital or a business? Focus on quality. Does the site have an editorial board? Is the information reviewed before it is posted? Be skeptical. Things that sound too good to be true often are. You want current, unbiased information based on research.

NIH: National Library of Medicine

Start Here

• Evaluating Internet Health Information: A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine (National Library of Medicine)
• Find Quality Resources: How Do I Know if I Can Trust the Informaton I Find Online? (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology)
• Finding and Evaluating Online Resources on Complementary Health Approaches (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health) Also in Spanish
• Health Information on the Web: Finding Reliable Information (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• MedlinePlus Guide to Healthy Web Surfing (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Trust It or Trash It? (Genetic Alliance)
• Using Trusted Resources (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Health Literacy: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Miracle Health Claims (Federal Trade Commission) Also in Spanish
• National Library of Medicine Guide to Finding Health Information (National Library of Medicine)
• Our Commitment to Reliable Health and Medical Information (Health on the Net Foundation)
• Understanding Health Risks: Improve Your Chances for Good Health (National Institutes of Health)

Specifics

• Cancer Information on the Internet (American Cancer Society)
• Checking the Symptom Checkers (National Institutes of Health)
• Deciphering Media Stories on Diet: Nutrition in the News (Harvard School of Public Health)
• Finding Reliable Health Information Online (National Human Genome Research Institute)
• How to Find Reliable ENT Info (American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
• Understanding Health News (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)

Videos and Tutorials

• Evaluating Internet Health Information: A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine (National Library of Medicine)

Statistics and Research

• Internet Use for Health Information (Health Resources and Services Administration)
• Use of the Internet for Health Information: United States, 2009 (National Center for Health Statistics)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: The Entertainment-Education Strategy in Sexual Assault Prevention: A Comparison of...
• Article: Racial and Ethnic Differences in Tobacco Information Seeking and Information...
• Article: Pictograms, Units and Dosing Tools, and Parent Medication Errors: A...
• Evaluating Health Information -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Medical Library Association
• National Library of Medicine

Patient Handouts

• Online health information - what can you trust? (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish