Assessing domains of uncertainty in critical Web-based healthcare communities

Search engines and Web-based directories play a central role in facilitating access to online health information. In this environment consumers often find and act upon health information of variable quality, with little input from health professionals. As an added concern, when consumers access health information on the Web via a search engine they often fail to discuss the information with a healthcare provider, especially in areas of perceived medical uncertainty. For many health consumers, the Internet may be the primary (or even sole) source of health information, especially where consumers lack access to, or trust in, trained providers. To date the corresponding role of search engine technology use and efficacy has received relatively little attention, however. This study serves as an exploratory technology assessment that explains the application of keyword effectiveness indexing (KEI) analysis in estimating the ability of commercial search engines to return relevant results for healthcare consumers. Findings suggest that KEI can serve as a useful health search profiling tool, though its applicability may vary across domains.