Every hypochondriac with web access has done it: tried to diagnose their symptoms using Google. In the hands of amateurs, this may do more harm than good, but could the search engine be a useful tool for the professionals?
Yes, say two doctors who put Google鈥檚 medical prowess to the test by typing in key symptoms of difficult-to-diagnose cases from New England Journal of Medicine.
Though Google pointed to the correct diagnosis in only 15 out of 26 cases, Hangwi Tang and Jennifer Hwee Kwoon Ng of the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, say it would be useful to a professional.
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鈥淚t鈥檚 a fascinating pilot study,鈥� says Peter Yellowlees, a specialist in medical informatics at UC Davis in California, US.
But Mike Hogarth, another medical informatics researcher at UC Davis, raises questions about the study.
鈥淭he article is an interesting one, but very vague on important 鈥榚valuation鈥� criteria on how they did the searching,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t made it sound as if Google will take in terms and give you a diagnosis back, which is ridiculous.鈥�
Hogarth stresses that Google will only help a trained medical practitioner: 鈥淚t will return documents in response to terms and the documents may 鈥榟elp鈥� in determining the condition of interest.鈥�
Journal reference: (British Medical Journal, DOI: 10.1136/bmj.39003.640567.AE)
