Australian research finds Doctor Google is usually wrong

 

New research conducted by Edith Cowan University has found online symptom checkers are mostly wrong.

Many people turn to Google to self-diagnose their health conditions but online symptom checkers are only accurate about a third of the time, according to research published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

After analyzing 36 international mobile and web-based symptom checkers the study found they yield the correct diagnosis as the first result just 36 per cent of the time, and within the top three results 52 per cent of the time.

Moreover, the study revealed that advice on where and when to seek professional medical help was accurate only 49 per cent of the time.

Estimates indicate Google's health related searches amount to approximately 70,000 every minute. Nearly 40 per cent of Australians look for online health information treat themselves.


Chief author of the research, Michella Hill said the findings should make people pause and reflect.

"While it may be tempting to use these tools to find out what may be causing your symptoms, most of the time they are unreliable at best and can be dangerous at worst," she said.

"We've all been guilty of being 'cyberchondriacs' and googling at the first sign of a niggle or headache," she said.

"But the reality is these websites and apps should be viewed very cautiously as they do not look at the whole picture—they don't know your medical history or other symptoms. For people who lack health knowledge, they may think the advice they're given is accurate or that their condition is not serious when it may be."

Hill suggests online symptom checkers can be useful for further information once doctors have reached a diagnosis.

"These sites are not a replacement for going to the doctor, but they can be useful in providing more information once you do have an official diagnosis," she said.