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Health information is easy to find, but reliable health information takes a little effort. Some of what you get from newspapers, magazines, books, TV, the Internet and social media is up to date and trustworthy; some is not. So it pays to judge it yourself, in two steps:
- Ask questions before you trust what you read or hear.
- Talk it over with your health care provider before you rely on it. You may have found good information, but your provider can tell you whether it is good for you.
Websites
Most answers are on a site's "About Us" page. If you cannot find out who runs a website, the site may not be trustworthy, and neither may its health information.
| Ask | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Who runs the site? | Someone you can trust for balanced, accurate information, with a way to contact the owners with questions or feedback. Good health information generally comes from sites run by federal government agencies, medical schools, and large professional or nonprofit organizations — for heart health, for example, the American College of Cardiology (a professional organization) and the American Heart Association (a nonprofit) |
| What is it for? | To inform the public, to sell products or services, or to promote the opinions of a person or group? A trustworthy site has one goal: to give you good information |
| Who pays for it? | Ads should be clearly marked as advertisements — watch for ads made to look like neutral health information. If a business pays for the site, its information may favor that business and its products |
| Is the information high quality? | Balanced facts based on research, not one treatment promoted over another. Dramatic writing, promises of cures, and claims that sound too good to be true may be signs of a health fraud scam |
| How is it chosen and checked? | On "About Us": an editorial board of health experts, a content review process, a selection policy for content, and the writers' qualifications (sometimes at the foot of each article) |
| Where does it come from? | Links or references to its sources on the content pages |
| Is it current? | Dates showing when each page was written, reviewed or updated |
| What happens to your personal information? | A privacy policy explaining how it is used. Share nothing about yourself unless you are comfortable with the risks |
Even when a site seems trustworthy, check whether other reliable sites say the same thing.
Social media
A post from someone you know is not guaranteed to be good information. Most of the website questions work here too: where did it come from, why does it exist, and is anyone paying for it? If you are not sure a post is trustworthy, do not share it.
News stories about medical research
Some stories leave out facts you need. Ask:
- Did the research involve people or animals?
- If people, how many, and who were they?
- How long did the study last, and what type of study was it?
- Who paid for the research?
A few tips on understanding medical research will help you decide whether a story applies to your health — and then you can discuss it with your provider.
Books
- How old is the book?
- Is the author an expert on the subject?
- Does it give different points of view, or only the author's?
- Has it been reviewed by other experts?
- Does it list the sources of its content?
Before you act on it
Whatever the source, talk with your provider before using health information to make decisions that may affect your health.
Sources
Based on "Evaluating Health Information," MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Лицензия: CC0 1.0 (общественное достояние) · По материалам medlineplus.gov
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