Health Information Search Behavior on the Web: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Searching health information on web has become an integral part of today's world, and many people turn to the Web for healthcare information and healthcare assessment. Our pilot study investigates users' preferences for the type of search results (image, news, video, etc.), and investigates users' ability to accurately interpret online health information for the purpose of self diagnosis. The preliminary results reveal that blog and news articles are most sought by users when searching online information and there exist challenges in the use of online health information for self-diagnosis.