Finding Reliable Health Information Online

Looking things up is normal. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), part of the National Institutes of Health, cites a 2022 national survey in which 58.5% of American adults said they used the internet as a source of health information. The difficulty, as the NCCIH puts it, is that finding health information online is easy, while finding accurate, science-based information can take a little work.

The work is mostly a matter of asking the same five things about every page, post or app. The NCCIH sets them out as five quick questions for social media sites and apps (who, what, when, where and why), and its longer guide to health websites covers the same ground.

Five questions, and where to look for the answers

Who

A reliable health site makes it easy to find out who is responsible for it, the NCCIH says. The web address gives a first hint. In the United States, “.gov” marks a government site and “.edu” an educational institution; “.org” usually means a non-commercial organisation and “.com” a commercial one. Other countries have their own endings, such as “.gov.uk” or “.gov.au”. The NCCIH adds a caution: some “.org” sites promote an agenda, so their content may be biased. An address ending is a clue, not a verdict.

What

Be wary of any page promising quick, complete or universal results. Real guidance tends to be modest and full of “for most people” and “it depends”.

When

Outdated medical information can be misleading, the NCCIH warns. Reputable sites usually revise their fact sheets on a regular schedule and show a date. News reports and summaries of meetings are different: they are generally not updated after publication, so a ten-year-old news item may describe a finding that has since been overturned.

Where

A trustworthy page says what its statements are based on, for example articles in medical journals, and keeps opinion clearly apart from evidence. If a site says a treatment has health benefits, look for references to the research behind the claim. The NCCIH is direct about what does not count: testimonials, anecdotes and unsupported claims are not the same as objective, evidence-based information. It also suggests checking whether content has been looked over by people with relevant expertise, for instance through a named editorial board.

Why

Ask who pays. Does the site carry advertising? Is it sponsored by a company that sells supplements, medicines or other products? When a site sells products, the NCCIH’s advice is to confirm its information with an independent site that does not.

One search, followed through

The whole check took a couple of minutes, and it ended in a question for a professional. That is the pattern to aim for.

Social media and apps

The NCCIH wrote its five quick questions with social media sites and apps in mind. Two things make feeds harder than websites. A post usually arrives without its source, date or context, so you have to go and find them. And a search that begins on a trusted site can, after a few clicks, land you somewhere unfamiliar. Each time the site changes, ask the questions again.

The World Health Organization uses the word “infodemic” for too much information, including false or misleading information, in digital and physical spaces during a disease outbreak. It says this causes confusion and risk-taking that can harm health and leads to mistrust of health authorities. Checking before you share is one small thing an individual can do about it. Two related Meetis guides go further: how to read a health news headline and how to check a nutrition claim.

Look after your own data

Health websites and apps often ask you to subscribe or create an account, and many track which pages you view. A credible site explains what it will and will not do with that information, the NCCIH says. Its advice: read the privacy policy and do not sign up for anything you do not fully understand. Check that the address begins with “https://”, which means the connection is encrypted. Be especially careful with symptom quizzes and forms that ask for your date of birth, postcode or health details in exchange for a “personal report”.

Good places to start

It is quicker to begin with a source you already trust than to test every search result. Your country’s health ministry or national health service and its public health agency are the obvious first stops, because their advice fits the services and programmes actually available to you. The NHS website in England, healthdirect in Australia and the NIH and CDC sites in the United States are examples. For international guidance, the World Health Organization publishes fact sheets on many topics. Remember that a page written for one country may describe tests, programmes or helplines that do not exist in yours.

What online information is for

The NCCIH is clear that online resources should not be the only basis for decisions about your health. Reading is good preparation: it helps you understand terms, think of questions and follow what a professional tells you. It does not know your history, your other conditions or the medicines you take.

So use what you find to build a better conversation. Note the page, the date and the question it raised, and add it to your list when you prepare for an appointment. “I read this on a public health site and wondered whether it applies to me” is a sentence most clinicians are glad to hear.