Who can you trust? A review of free online sources of "trustworthy" information about treatment effects for patients and the public

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
Andrew D Oxman, Elizabeth J Paulsen

Abstract

Information about effects of treatments based on unsystematic reviews of research evidence may be misleading. However, finding trustworthy information about the effects of treatments based on systematic reviews, which is accessible to patients and the public can be difficult. The objectives of this study were to identify and evaluate free sources of health information for patients and the public that provide information about effects of treatments based on systematic reviews. We reviewed websites that we and our colleagues knew of, searched for government sponsored health information websites, and searched for online sources of health information that provide evidence-based information. To be included in our review, a website had to be available in English, freely accessible, and intended for patients and the public. In addition, it had to have a broad scope, not limited to specific conditions or types of treatments. It had to include a description of how the information is prepared and the description had to include a statement about using systematic reviews. We compared the included websites by searching for information about the effects of eight treatments. Three websites met our inclusion criteria: Cochrane Evidence, Inform...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 22, 2020·Yearbook of Medical Informatics·Carolyn PetersenUNKNOWN Section Editors Special Section on Ethics in Health Informatics of the International Medical Informatics Association Yearboo
May 13, 2020·European Journal of Pediatric Surgery : Official Journal of Austrian Association of Pediatric Surgery ... [et Al] = Zeitschrift Für Kinderchirurgie·Wietse P ZuidemaErnest van Heurn

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