Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Medical Informatics
Date Submitted: Sep 16, 2019
Date Accepted: Jan 10, 2020
Undergraduate medical students’ search for health information online – an explanatory, cross-sectional study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Evidence shows that being a so-called “digital native” or growing up in a digital environment does not necessarily lead to increased digital competencies, including digital health literacy and the evaluation of webpage-qualities.
Objective:
The present study showed how medical students searched for health information (recommended testing for histamine intolerance) online in order to find out more about search strategies in future health professionals. As Medisuch presents a qualitatively better search engine, we assume that medical students using this specific search machine will (1) find valid information faster and on more reliable webpages and (2) more often recommend the correct diagnostic steps for histamine intolerance to their patient than students using a generic search engine like Google.
Methods:
Medical students in 3rd year of studywere asked to find the relevant diagnostic steps of histamine intolerance online. They were randomly assigned to use one search engines: for Google, free choice or Medisuch. Their online information-seeking behaviour was video-recorced.
Results:
One hundred forty medical students participated in the study. The total number of webpages found did not differ among the groups (P = .518). Students using Medisuch (P = .02) more often identified the elimination diet as a relevant diagnostic step. The provocation test was reported by almost 50% of the students independent of the search engine used. In general, medical students commonly identified trustworthy webpages (Google: 82%; Free: 86%; and Medisuch: 77%).
Conclusions:
This indicates that medical students were able to find trustworthy health-related information online independent of the search engine used. Medical students as digital natives do seem to have proper internet skills and know how to use them. They entered specific medical terms (evidence-based diagnostic steps) or reliable webpages (DocCheck) in the search engines in order to gain correct information. The question arises if this behaviour can be seen as true ‘digital literacy’.
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