Contrary to concerns that searching for medical diagnoses on the internet is harmful to patients, it can improve their ability to assess their symptoms, according to a March 29 study published in JAMA Network Open.
The study asked 5,000 U.S. adults to provide a diagnosis based on given case data. The participants looked up their case symptoms on the internet to hypothesize a diagnosis and select a triage level, ranging from letting the issue resolve on its own to calling emergency services.
Participants were also asked to measure their anxiety levels to see if the internet search contributed to hypochondria.
Four things to know about the study's results:
- There were modest improvements in diagnostic accuracy after the search, with an improvement from 49.8 percent before an internet search to 54 percent after the search.
- Triage accuracy was slightly lowered after an internet search, from 74.5 percent to 74.1 percent.
- The average time it took to reach a diagnosis was 12.1 minutes.
- Anxiety about the results remained the same. It was rated as 3.3 points out of five before and after the internet search.
The data contradicts long-held concerns that searching for diagnosis information on the internet can lead people to low-quality health information. It suggests that medical providers may not need to discourage patients from using search engines to look up their medical symptoms.