Seeking health information online: does Wikipedia matter? - PubMed (original) (raw)

Seeking health information online: does Wikipedia matter?

Michaël R Laurent et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2009 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To determine the significance of the English Wikipedia as a source of online health information. DESIGN The authors measured Wikipedia's ranking on general Internet search engines by entering keywords from MedlinePlus, NHS Direct Online, and the National Organization of Rare Diseases as queries into search engine optimization software. We assessed whether article quality influenced this ranking. The authors tested whether traffic to Wikipedia coincided with epidemiological trends and news of emerging health concerns, and how it compares to MedlinePlus. MEASUREMENTS Cumulative incidence and average position of Wikipedia compared to other Web sites among the first 20 results on general Internet search engines (Google, Google UK, Yahoo, and MSN, and page view statistics for selected Wikipedia articles and MedlinePlus pages. RESULTS Wikipedia ranked among the first ten results in 71-85% of search engines and keywords tested. Wikipedia surpassed MedlinePlus and NHS Direct Online (except for queries from the latter on Google UK), and ranked higher with quality articles. Wikipedia ranked highest for rare diseases, although its incidence in several categories decreased. Page views increased parallel to the occurrence of 20 seasonal disorders and news of three emerging health concerns. Wikipedia articles were viewed more often than MedlinePlus Topic (p = 0.001) but for MedlinePlus Encyclopedia pages, the trend was not significant (p = 0.07-0.10). CONCLUSIONS Based on its search engine ranking and page view statistics, the English Wikipedia is a prominent source of online health information compared to the other online health information providers studied.

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Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

This graph shows the amount of page views during Jun relative to Jan 2008 for ten conditions or pathogens which are more common during winter (shown left: frostbite, hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning, common cold, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, norovirus, influenza, rhinovirus and seasonal affective disorder) or summer months (shown right: hyperthermia, sunburn, hay fever, insect bites and stings, bee sting, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, hemolytic-uremic syndrome, harvest mite, West Nile virus), respectively. Results are expressed as a mean relative number of page views, and bars symbolize the 95% confidence interval around the mean.

Figure 2

Figure 2

This graph shows the daily amount of page views during Sept 2008 for the article “Melamine” on the English Wikipedia, the Jun 2008 daily page views for “Salmonella”, and the Feb 2008 daily page views for the article “Ricin”. On Sept 12, 2008, reports emerged of melamine-contaminated infant formula in China. Following the announcement of an outbreak of Salmonella Saint Paul and a possible link to tomatoes, several groceries and restaurants stopped offering tomatoes on Jun 9, 2008. On Feb 29, 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an investigation following an intoxication with the protein toxin ricin.

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