Dataset Information

Consumer Demand for Online Dizziness Information: If You Build it, They may Come.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Dizziness is a common reason patients present to doctors, but effective diagnostic tests and treatments for dizziness are underused. The internet is a way to disseminate medical information and is emerging as an intervention platform. The objective of this study was to describe internet searches for dizziness terms to assess the possible consumer demand for internet-based dizziness diagnostic and treatment tools.

Study design/methods

Google AdWords and Google Insights for Search were used for keyword search data on the following generic terms: vertigo, dizzy, dizziness, lightheaded, and lightheadedness. Data collected included keyword ideas (i.e., additional keywords identified by Google as being related search terms), global and US only monthly search frequencies, as well as trends in top searches related to dizziness terms from 2004 to 2012. Keywords suggestive of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) or BPPV processes were identified.

Results

Of the five generic dizziness terms, vertigo had the most global searches per month (1.83 million) and lightheadedness had the least (90,500). Four BPPV-specific terms had more than 100,000 global searches per month. Three BPPV terms ("positional vertigo," "benign vertigo," and "benign positional vertigo") have been in the list of top searches related to vertigo every quarter since 2004.

Conclusion

Substantial demand exists for dizziness information via the internet. Future studies should seek to better characterize the population seeking this information. The magnitude of this potential demand suggests that validated and tested diagnostic and treatment tools could contribute to healthcare efficiencies and patient outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Kerber KA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3997034 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Consumer Demand for Online Dizziness Information: If You Build it, They may Come.

Kerber Kevin A KA Skolarus Lesli E LE Callaghan Brian C BC Zheng Kai K Zhang Yuhao Y An Lawrence C LC Burke James F JF

Frontiers in neurology 20140416

<h4>Objective</h4>Dizziness is a common reason patients present to doctors, but effective diagnostic tests and treatments for dizziness are underused. The internet is a way to disseminate medical information and is emerging as an intervention platform. The objective of this study was to describe internet searches for dizziness terms to assess the possible consumer demand for internet-based dizziness diagnostic and treatment tools.<h4>Study design/methods</h4>Google AdWords and Google Insights fo ...[more]

PMID: 24795690

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Project description:BackgroundMedication is the most common intervention in health care, and the number of online consumer information systems within the pharmaceutical sector is increasing. However, online consumer information systems can be a barrier for users, imposing information asymmetries between stakeholders.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to quantify and compare the usability of an online consumer medication information system (OCMIS) against a reference implementation based on an interoperable information model for patients, physicians, and pharmacists.MethodsQuantitative and qualitative data were acquired from patients, physicians, and pharmacists in this online usability study. We administered 3 use cases and a post hoc questionnaire per user. Quantitative usability data including effectiveness (task success), efficiency (task time), and user satisfaction (system usability scale [SUS]) was complemented by qualitative and demographic data. Users evaluated 6 existing systems and 1 reference implementation of an OCMIS.ResultsA total of 137 patients, 81 physicians, and 68 pharmacists participated in this study. Task success varied from 84% to 92% in patients, 66% to 100% in physicians, and 50% to 91% in pharmacists. Task completion time decreased over the course of the study for all but 2 OCMIS within the patient group. Due to an assumed nonnormal distribution of SUS scores, within-group comparison was done using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Patients showed differences in SUS scores (P=.02) and task time (P=.03), while physicians did not have significant differences in SUS scores (P=.83) and task time (P=.72). For pharmacists, a significant difference in SUS scores (P<.001) and task time (P=.007) was detected.ConclusionsThe vendor-neutral reference implementation based on an interoperable information model was proven to be a promising approach that was not inferior to existing solutions for patients and physicians. For pharmacists, it exceeded user satisfaction scores compared to other OCMIS. This data-driven approach based on an interoperable information model enables the development of more user-tailored features to increase usability. This fosters data democratization and empowers stakeholders within the pharmaceutical sector.

Project description:BACKGROUND:There has been an exponential increase in the general population's usage of the internet and of information accessibility; the current demand for online consumer health information (OCHI) is unprecedented. There are multiple studies on internet access and usage, quality of information, and information needs. However, few studies explored negative outcomes of OCHI in detail or from different perspectives, and none examined how these negative outcomes could be reduced. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to describe negative outcomes associated with OCHI use in primary care and identify potential preventive strategies from consumers', health practitioners', and health librarians' perspectives. METHODS:This included a two-stage interpretive qualitative study. In the first stage, we recruited through a social media survey, a purposeful sample of 19 OCHI users who had experienced negative outcomes associated with OCHI. We conducted semistructured interviews and performed a deductive-inductive thematic analysis. The results also informed the creation of vignettes that were used in the next stage. In the second stage, we interviewed a convenient sample of 10 key informants: 7 health practitioners (3 family physicians, 2 nurses, and 2 pharmacists) and 3 health librarians. With the support of the vignettes, we asked participants to elaborate on (1) their experience with patients who have used OCHI and experienced negative outcomes and (2) what strategies they suggest to reduce these outcomes. We performed a deductive-inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS:We found that negative outcomes of OCHI may occur at three levels: internal (such as increased worrying), interpersonal (such as a tension in the patient-clinician relationship), and service-related (such as postponing a clinical encounter). Participants also proposed three types of strategies to reduce the occurrence of these negative outcomes, namely, providing consumers with reliable OCHI, educating consumers on how to assess OCHI websites, and helping consumers present and discuss the OCHI they find with a health professional in their social network or a librarian for instance. CONCLUSIONS:We examined negative outcomes associated with using OCHI from five complementary perspectives (consumers, family physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and health librarians). We identified a construct of OCHI use-related tension that included and framed all negative outcomes. This construct has three dimensions (three interdependent levels): internal, interpersonal, and service-related tensions. Future research can focus on the implementation and effectiveness of the proposed strategies, which might contribute to reducing these tensions.

Dataset Information

Consumer Demand for Online Dizziness Information: If You Build it, They may Come.

Objective

Study design/methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Consumer Demand for Online Dizziness Information: If You Build it, They may Come.

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