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Parents

Evaluating Information on the Web

Are you confused by the amount of information on immunizations on the Internet? Concerned about the rumors linking vaccines and diseases like diabetes and autism? Below are some tips to help you navigate your way through all of the information available and determine its accuracy.

How do I know if the vaccine information I find on the Internet is accurate?

The Internet can be a valuable resource to find health information. However, the quality of health information on the Internet is extremely variable and difficult to assess. General search engines only identify topics and provide the lists of Web sites that include good sites as well as misinformation.

Remember that medical information changes rapidly so it is a good idea to check more than one place for information. Here are some suggestions for getting started:

First, start with a source that you know provides reliable information and which can direct you to other reliable sources of information. For example:

• The National Library of Medicine’s Medline Plus is one of the best places to begin a search about health matters. www.nlm.nih.gov/portals/public.html 
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the lead federal agency for protecting the health and safety of people–at home and abroad. Its Web site provides a wealth of information about health, travel, the environment and disease prevention. www.cdc.gov 
• The National Institutes of Health is the steward of medical and behavioral research for the US. A great deal of information on health issues can be found at health.nih.gov as well as at the Web sites of the 27 Institutes and Centers, www.nih.gov/icd. 
• The World Health Organization (WHO) is the United Nations agency for health. A global perspective on many health issues may be found there. www.who.int 
• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) covers a wide range of information about children’s health. www.aap.org 
• Tufts University Child & Family WebGuide was developed by a group of faculty to create an evaluation instrument for information about children. The site is divided into various categories of information: family/parenting, education/learning, typical child development, health/mental health, resources/recreation and medical pages. www.childandfamily.info

When you go to a site look for these characteristics:

• A good health Web site will display who is responsible for the site. Also, there will be a way to contact the information provider or Webmaster.
• Information should not be slanted in favor of a Web site's sponsor or source of funding. Health information should be accurate and unbiased.

Then, ask the following questions:

• Do scientific experts review the medical information before it is posted on the Web site? What are their credentials? Remember that credentials are difficult to assess on the Internet and experts in one field may not be experts in another area. It is important to look for sponsoring organizations that allow their name and prestige to be displayed. For example, notice the organizations that allow this Web site to display their names and logos.
• Does the information display the date of last revision, and is it kept up to date?
• What is the scientific evidence for claims made? The original source of facts and figures should be shown. For example, the Web site should provide citations of medical articles or other sources of information. You should be able to distinguish facts from opinions. Also, facts are more reliable if they come from a published scientific study on humans rather than from unpublished accounts or from reports of a single person or of animal studies. One needs to recognize, however, that many of the anti-vaccine sites appear legitimate and cite articles from CDC and other reliable sources but either misquote or take a statement out of context. Web sites may inaccurately cite published literature.
• Does the Web site feature anecdotes (stories about individuals) about purported serious adverse events instead of scientific evidence? If so it is likely not a credible source of information.

Next, consider the purpose of the Web site. The purpose should be to provide accurate and unbiased information about that topic. If the purpose is to advertise about a health care product, be skeptical about the information provided. If much of the material on the Web site emphasizes stories about individual children, it may be an anti-vaccine Web site.

Finally, discuss with your health professional the information that you find on the Web. Health information found on the Web should supplement rather than replace the information or advice given by your health care provider.

Is there any regulation or standardization of information on the Internet?

The Federal Trade Commission
There is little regulation of the information on the Web. Law enforcement efforts of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) focus on deceptive and unproven claims. The federal agency monitors the Web for fraud and deception, and it can act against a company if it sees a pattern of law violations. To help make consumers aware of Web sites that promote fraudulent products, the FTC launched the campaign "Operation Cure.All" in June 1999. The Web site for the FTC is www.ftc.gov.

The World Health Organization (WHO)
The WHO has established guidelines for Web sites providing information about vaccine safety. It features a list of Web sites that meet its expectations.

Healthfinder
The Healthfinder Web site (www.healthfinder.gov) is the federal government's gateway for reliable information from U.S. government agencies and other organizations. The site displays selected resources of consumer health and human services information. These sources have been reviewed and found reliable and credible.

Trustworthy information about vaccines

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References

• Health Summit Working Group. (1998). Criteria for assessing the quality of health information on the Internet: Policy paper. McLean, VA: Mitretek Systems.
• World Health Organiztion: Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS). Good information practices for vaccine safety web sites.
• Wyatt JC. (1997). Commentary: Measuring quality and impact of the world wide web. Brit Med J 314:1879-1881.