Research Article BACKGROUND

In today’s wired society, more and more Americans seeking medical advice choose online health resources over a visit to an actual health professional. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, on any given day, over 8 million Americans use the internet to research health topics.1 In many of its reports, the Pew project refers to such individuals as online health seek-ers.1-4 Online health seekers use the internet to look up information about a particular doctor, a specific health condition, alterna-tive or experimental treatments, or sensitive health topics that are difficult to discuss. Although the internet offers an endless sup-ply of health advice to those who seek it, no government authority is responsible for the evaluation and regulation of this informa-tion, leaving online health seekers to fend for themselves. Considering that 66 % percent of online health seekers began their last health inquiry at a search engine,1 the risk of expos-ing oneself to unreliable health information or misdiagnosing oneself is high. According to the Database of Adverse Events Related to the Internet,5 a project initiated by the Research Unit for Cyber-medicine and E-health at the University of Heidelberg, improper use of health infor-mation or use of poor-quality information found on the internet may lead to adverse health outcomes, including: • Psychological or physical harm as a result of misinformation or misdiagnosis • Delaying a visit to a physician because of an internet-supported diagnosis • Recurrent or needless consultation with one’s physician due to internet findings • Ordering of harmful drugs or other health-impacting products.