Evaluation of e-textbooks. DynaMed, MD Consult and UpToDate

To evaluate the acceptability and utilisation of three electronic textbooks: DynaMed, MD Consult (including FirstConsult) and UpToDate.

Two hundred general practitioners accessed three e-textbooks through a web portal. General practitioners completed an electronic survey and used a random selection during a telephone interview to answer four clinical questions: screening, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

One hundred and twenty-two GPs made at least one hit through the study website. Eighty-four GPs completed the emailed questionnaire and 77 completed the telephone interview (36% of enrolled, 61% of users). Fifty-one percent of users accessed the e-textbooks less than 10 times over 8 months. There was no significant difference in preference for, or usage levels of, the three e-textbooks. During the telephone interview the three texts performed similarly in terms of time to answer and satisfaction with answer.

There was no clear 'winner' between the three e-textbooks.