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Is it a good quality medicines website? Five questions to ask. Is it a good-quality website? Five questions to ask
A lot of health information is available on internet — but not all of it is reliable. Ask these five questions to work out whether a website is a good source of information about medicines or not.
Is it a good-quality website? Five questions to ask
Here are some questions to ask to help you decide if the medical or health information you find on the internet is what you need — accurate, unbiased and up to date.
1. Who is providing the information?
Is it clear who is providing the information? Also, who funds the website? If it is not clear, beware. If the website is run by a government authority, an independent body, a professional organisation or support body, the information is more likely to be reliable and of good quality.
Check to see if the website and the organisation linked with it is Australian. If not, some of the information provided might not be relevant to you.
2. Is the information biased?
Websites exist for a purpose — for example, to provide information, to sell a product or to tell the world about the theories of their contributors. Knowing the purpose of a website helps you judge the information it provides. Sites that provide information, without selling a product, will probably give you more balanced advice.
3. Does it promise too much?
The best information is based on evidence, not belief. The best information also acknowledges that all treatments have both positives and negatives, and that the outcome of treatments cannot be guaranteed. Warning signs to watch out for include:
- promises that the medicine will be effective for everyone
- promises of instant cures
- promises of miracle recoveries
- words like ‘breakthrough’, ‘secret ingredient’, ‘scientific research’ (without saying what that research showed) or ‘side-effect free’
- requests for payment.
4. Is the information up to date?
Look for dates on web pages. This is more important for some information than for others. General information about an illness and its causes may not change much in 2 or 3 years, but information about its treatment may well change within that time. Links are another clue: a lot of broken links suggest a website is out of date.
5. Are the links of good quality?
Most websites link to other sites. Have a look at some of these links. If a website you’re interested in links to sites you assess to be good quality, then it reflects well. If its links are to websites that don’t meet your quality standards, then this reflects badly.
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Date published: 2011-01-24 00:00:00
Reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the date of creation. This information is not intended as a substitute for medical advice from a qualified health professional. Health professionals should rely on their own expertise and enquiries. Where permitted by law, NPS disclaims all liability (including for negligence) for any loss, damage or injury resulting from reliance on or use of this information. Read our full disclaimer.
References to brands should not be taken as an endorsement by NPS.
