Searching for symptoms and signs of the disease using Internet resources can be complicated because many are not authoritative. Therefore, paying attention to some parameters when finding a website is essential. For a comprehensive assessment of the source, various guides can be used that provide complete instructions (Library of Congress, n.d d.).
First, it is necessary to assess the source’s reliability, which must be confirmed. This could be a health ministry website, a scientific article, or a peer-reviewed medical journal. In this case, the information can be more reliable and can be trusted (University of Maryland, 2009). Another critical category is authorship, which may or may not belong to a qualified person. Checking the competencies and credentials of the author is vital to be sure that the symptoms described are correct.
Another way to determine the reliability of an Internet resource is to check the publication date. This can be important, as resources that are too old and outdated may contain entirely or partially incorrect information. Medical knowledge is evolving rapidly, so it is essential to refer to up-to-date sources for symptoms (Library of Congress, n.d d.). Links and citations are also important indicators that can indicate the reliability of a source (Aksnes et al., 2019). If the author uses strong evidence, such as links to verified medical journals or books, the article can be written more professionally and contain verified information. In this case, the material posted on the web resource can be trusted.
When using the Internet for medical purposes, the patient could face negative consequences such as an incorrect diagnosis. For example, one of my relatives developed an overreliance on Googling every symptom they had to self-diagnose and find the recommended over-the-counter medications. They started taking a lot of medication at the same time while failing to consider the adverse effects of drug interactions, such as taking cough medicine and sleep medicine concurrently. As they had liver disease, the relative developed further issues that had to be treated by a doctor.
References
Aksnes, D. W., Langfeldt, L., & Wouters, P. (2019). Citations, citation indicators, and research quality: An overview of basic concepts and theories. SAGE Open, 9(1). Web.
Library of Congress. (n. d.). Evaluating internet resources an annotated guide to selected resources. Web.