In this blog post, we will look at the pros and cons of online medical information and discuss what we should consider first for reliable medical care.
A fashionable mom hands in a medical report. Before I even finished reading the text saying that the child’s fever was not going down, the doctor asked me what kind of illness it was. The doctor controlled the child’s breathing with a look that asked me to guess the illness. The child looked exhausted from suffering from a high fever for over a week, and his lips were cracked and his eyes were red and bloodshot. There was a red rash on his neck and a lump that could be felt. The doctor said that he was observing the child with various possibilities in mind and that he suspected Kawasaki disease, but the mother immediately looked suspicious, saying, “Kawasaki? My child is a little different. Are you sure it’s that disease?” The doctor explained that the symptoms can appear differently in each patient and that even if they are atypical, there is a possibility of complications. However, the mother’s expression did not seem to be satisfied with the answer. Then, she asked if there was any other treatment method, what would happen if she didn’t get treatment, and who was the best doctor in this field, and she started searching on her smartphone.
A few years ago, an article titled “What if your patient is a Googler?” published in TIME came to mind. The article introduced the new challenges that doctors faced when some patients started to bring materials they had searched on Google to the doctor’s office. An increasing number of patients are presenting their own solutions or making unwanted demands to their doctors based on only fragmentary information. In the case of rare diseases, it is possible that patients know more than their doctors, but in most cases this information is fragmentary and there are limitations to drawing a proper diagnosis or treatment.
This situation is not unique to the United States. According to a study, 80% of American Internet users look up their health information on the Internet, and 63% of them said that this information affects how they manage their illness. However, only 25% of them check the source or date of publication, and most do not consider the quality of the information. A similar situation is spreading in Korea, and more and more patients are using the Internet to predict their illnesses before visiting the hospital.
There are both advantages and disadvantages to information on the Internet. If it is understood correctly, it can facilitate communication between patients and doctors and reduce unnecessary explanations. However, if the information is incorrect, it can take a long time to correct it, and it can also be very difficult to resolve the patient’s distrust. To explain this, the theory of Daniel Kahneman, an emeritus professor at Princeton University in the United States, is often cited. He explained that two ways of thinking, “fast thinking” and “slow thinking,” coexist in the human brain. Fast thinking is emotional and intuitive, and it acts immediately, while slow thinking is a method of thinking slowly and logically and controlling one’s actions. In general, humans tend to prefer fast thinking, so they easily believe and accept information they first encounter on the Internet or in the media. This tendency, coupled with the human tendency to value first experiences, results in a failure to correct even incorrect information.
So how can patients use the Internet to get the right information? Not all information on the Internet is reliable. Official websites run by government agencies, reputable news agencies, and university hospitals are relatively reliable. These sites provide basic information such as how serious your symptoms are and which medical department you should see, and can be used as additional reference after a hospital visit. In particular, it is helpful to check such sites for information on how to manage chronic diseases and preventive measures for diseases with a family history.
Consultations on health hazards such as stress management, smoking cessation, and alcohol cessation, which are a headache for modern people, can also be easily accessed on the Internet. In addition, it is also useful to get advice on alternative medicine if you are abroad or cannot receive the necessary medical services due to language barriers. In particular, the spread of smartphones has led to an increase in the provision of health information through social networking services (SNS). Recently, several university hospitals have been providing health lectures, brief medical information, and real-time health counseling through Twitter accounts, and there have been reports of cases where such SNS activities have helped people respond quickly to emergencies.
Thanks to the Internet, patients now live in an era where they can easily access medical information. More and more people are searching for their symptoms before going to the hospital or familiarizing themselves with health-related information and prevention methods. But it is important to note that this is not the only way to do so. Most of the information on the Internet does not have an accurate source or is unreliable, and the content does not necessarily match your current condition. The important thing is to be able to clearly identify the source and to be able to sort out reliable information. Above all, it is necessary to have the mindset to trust the experience and knowledge of the doctor who is sitting in front of me and examining me directly. Because a situation in which a doctor is doubted due to poor information can lead to the obstruction of true treatment and recovery.
