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Related Experiment Videos

Search systems and medical data quoting from the internet.

Hrvoje Cvitanović1, Mirna Situm

  • 1Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Karlovac General Hospital, Karlovac, Croatia. hrvojecvitanovic@email.hinet.hr

Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica : ADC
|October 16, 2002
PubMed
Summary

Evaluating internet search engines for medical information is crucial. While general search engines offer vast results for terms like "skin cancer," specialized engines like Medline are recommended for professionals seeking reliable dermatologic information.

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Area of Science:

  • Medical Informatics
  • Information Science

Background:

  • The internet has become a significant source of medical information.
  • Efficient searching, evaluation, and citation methods are needed for online medical data.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the efficiency of various internet search engines for medical information retrieval.
  • To compare general, specialized medical, and country-specific search engines.

Main Methods:

  • Analyzed search results from twelve popular search engines (9 general, 2 medical, 1 Croatian).
  • Evaluated search efficiency by examining the number of pages, content relevance, and quoted references.
  • Tested search terms including 'skin cancer' and 'melanoma+therapy'.

Main Results:

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  • Search result quantities varied significantly across engines, from over 2 million pages for 'skin cancer' on Infoseek to zero for 'melanoma+therapy' on Cross.
  • Search engine performance differences are attributed to distinct databases and indexing methods.
  • Logical operators and advanced search features are available in most engines.
  • A consistent citation system for internet sources remains a challenge.
  • General search engines adequately cover dermatologic terms for the public, but professional-grade content is limited.

Conclusions:

  • Specialized medical search engines like Medline and curated web pages are superior for medical professionals.
  • Despite the internet's potential, high-quality, relevant professional medical content is scarce relative to the total volume of information.