Google helps Doctors diagnose complex cases- Study

By helping doctors diagnose difficult cases, the online search giant Google has added another feather in its cap, according to a new Australian study published online by the British Medical Journal.

To determine how often searching with Google leads health experts to the correct diagnosis, a team at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane selected 26 difficult diagnostic cases published in the New England Journal of Medicine last year, using three to five search terms from each case.

The researchers included obscure conditions such as Cushing's syndrome and mad cow disease (a nickname for bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in their internet based study.

After preparing a data sheet of case records, they did Google search for each case while blind to the correct diagnoses. Using set of symptom-related words, the researchers searched Google for a correct diagnosis and compared the internet diagnosis with those in the journals.

Google searches found the correct diagnosis in 15 or 58 percent of the cases, proving that the engine is a useful aid, specifically if the condition has "unique" symptoms, the researchers said

The researchers found that almost six-in-ten difficult cases can be solved by using the World Wide Web as a diagnostic aid and recommended doctors to use Google because it is now a source of three billion journal articles, more than any specialist search engine.

Doctors carry an estimated two million facts in their heads to fulfill their role in determining what ails patients and how to treat it, said Dr Hangwi Tang, the respiratory and sleep physician who led the study. As the medical science is expanding rapidly, even this much may not be sufficient.

In spite of all the tools available such as the blood tests and the most advanced scanning equipments, misdiagnosis is still a common incident in the medical profession.

"Doctors adept at using the internet use Google to help them diagnose difficult cases,” Dr Tang wrote in his study. "Our study suggests that in difficult diagnostic cases, it is often useful to Google for a diagnosis."

"Doctors and patients are increasingly using the internet to search for health-related information. Useful information on even the rarest medical syndromes can now be found and digested within a matter of minutes," the Australian doctors said, but, at the same time, they stressed that the efficiency of the search and the usefulness of the information retrieved depends on the searchers' knowledge base.

For instance, patients doing a Google search may find it less efficient and may be less likely to reach the correct diagnosis than physicians because they don't have the same knowledge.

According to Australian Medical Association president Mukesh Haikerwal, internet is a popular source of information for physicians chasing more information about their cases, but it must be used carefully.

"It certainly is a very quick way of picking through the multiple and varied sources that are out there if you know how to do it properly," Dr Haikerwal said.