2.7 Descriptions of conditions and treatments

There are two levels to judging the quality of this medical information.

First level

The first level looks for the presence of quality criteria which indicate that the information is likely to be reliable. This type of judgment can be carried out by anybody.

• The name of the author, with the reasons why you should trust what they have written, for example, their job title, place of work, formal qualifications.
  
  
• Any potential conflicts of interest, for example, if the researcher is funded by a pharmaceutical company.
  
  
• The date the information was written, with an update or review date.
  (a) Some information, like the description of a disease, does not change very much. However it should be reviewed on a regular basis, for example, yearly, to check that it is still correct.
  
  
• The sources of the information the author used to write their section, for example:
  (a) references to the literature;
  (b) links to other Web sites (and the dates they were accessed);
  (c) the author's knowledge and experience.
  
  
• Contact details of the author so you can check up on the information and query it
  
  
• Links to related resources so you can read other opinions and look at other research.

There should be a section that describes any quality checks or editorial processes that information goes through before it is placed on the site.

However, even when these quality criteria are followed by a site, there is still no guarantee that their information is correct.

One approach to help identify correct information is to look at a range of sites and note areas of agreement.

Second level

The second level involves a detailed assessment of the correctness of the information. This can only be done by a health professional or a lay-expert.

• A lay-expert is a member of the public, often a patient or carer, who has spent a lot of time reading and learning about a specific medical condition. They can know as much about this small area of medicine as some health professionals.
  
  
• Some support groups are sources of lay-experts so contact them for further help.
  

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© Copyright for this site is held by Contact a Family and the Information Society Research and Consultancy Group, School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences, Northumbria University. Site published February 2003. Last updated October 2006. Review date October 2007.