Regardless of the nature of the symptoms, their mere appearance generates in the persons concerned the need to go to documentation and therefore to practice self-diagnosis on the Web . However, according to a recent Australian study, the specialized sites responding to this type of request are rather unreliable.
The appearance of headaches, rashes and many other symptoms can cause stress. Thus, many people do not prefer to wait for a visit to the doctor to learn more about their ailments. They then go to their search engine and come across a host of specialized sites. In a study published in the Medical journal of Australia on May 11, 2020, researchers from Edith Cowan University (Australia) became interested in self-diagnosis on the Web. And according to them, only 36% of online diagnoses are accurate.
The study leaders analyzed 36 platforms from various search engines including Google, Yahoo, Ask, Search Encrypt and Bing. They conducted 1,170 tests with, each time, a different scenario. In addition, while 36% of diagnoses turned out to be correct, in 49% of cases the platforms provided good advice in order to find medical help. In other words, the sites in question were ineffective in about two thirds of the cases , and when the diagnosis was right the advice was good half the time.
This is all the more problematic since, according to searchers, Google processes about 70,000 searches every minute on health issues! The study also mentions the fact that 40% of Australians use the Web to practice self-medication. According to Sciences et Avenir , a 2013 Ifop poll indicated that 74% of French Internet users also conducted this type of research on the Web, even in the absence of symptoms.
According to the lead author of the study, Michella Hill, this ineffectiveness that characterizes self-diagnosis can sometimes be dangerous. The expert recommends the greatest caution in the face of health platforms. According to her, these sites do not know the medical history patients. In addition, a reassuring diagnosis could turn out to be wrong when it is actually a question of a more serious illness. It can also be a diagnosis that erroneously suggests a serious illness. In this case, the person could panic and take medication unsuitable or with the wrong dosage. By extension therefore, self-medication can also be dangerous.
Finally, let's recall the publication of a British study in 2018. This one, conducted by Bupa UK, estimated that 57% of queries on search engines led Internet users to mistakenly think that they had cancer.
