Study Questions Accuracy of Breast Cancer Web Sites

Boston (dbTechno) - U.S. researchers have reported in a new study on Monday that five percent of breast cancer web sites contain mistakes, causing their information to be inaccurate. The study put the accuracy and reliability of web sites with breast cancer information in question.

A team of researchers at the University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences at Houston found that breast cancer information on various web sites on the internet is more accurate compared to sites on other health topics.

Dr. Funda Meric-Bernstam stated that they had no way to try and pinpoint web sites which had inaccurate information.

Dr. Funda Meric-Bernstam stated “Our current recommendation to patients is to be skeptical, make sure what patients read is applicable to their specific medical well-being and not to take action without consulting a clinician.”

They looked at 312 web pages and found that 5% or one in every 20 web sites had inaccurate information.

They found 41 errors on 18 of the web sites.

Inaccurate information can cause anxiety and added stress for patients as they may read about treatments and such which do not apply to them at all.

Researchers wrote “Many consumers are satisfied with the information they find online and make treatment choices on the basis of this information. In some cases, patients do not discuss their use of online complementary and alternative medicine treatments with their clinicians.”