Kevin A. Clauson*, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, United States Michael G. Kay, World Health Organization, Global Observatory for eHealth, Geneva, Switzerland Jonathan J. Santos, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland Marina Takane, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland Track: Research Presentation Topic: Search, Collaborative Filtering and Recommender Technologies Presentation Type: Oral presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Building: Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School Room: A-Pechet Room Date: 2012-09-16 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM Last modified: 2012-09-10

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Background: Online health information quality and the approaches for addressing it have generated controversy and discussion for more than a decade. Over one hundred instruments have been developed, multiple initiatives have been launched, and countless policies enacted – all with the intent of assuring that the public has access to high quality online health information resources. However, factors including the sheer volume of web sites, spurious nature of some online resources, and deficits in eHealth literacy have conspired to make this an ongoing problem for countries to manage.
Objective: To characterize the approaches used to mitigate Internet risk and assure online health information quality among World Health Organization (WHO) Member States.
Methods: A survey process was developed at WHO Global Observatory for eHealth (GOe) aimed at generating a knowledge base that could be used for establishing benchmarks within and between Member States regarding safety and security on the Internet. After pilot testing a questionnaire in five countries, the survey tool was finalized, translated into all WHO official languages and Portuguese, and administered to national consensus panels of expert informants. Data was collected via the web-based tool, DataCol, stored in a SQL database, and then exported for analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the data.
Results: 114 countries (i.e., WHO Member States) completed the “Internet safety and security” section of the survey generating a response rate of 59%. Regional response varied from 34% in the Americas to 73% for the South-East Asian Region. The most commonly reported mechanism(s) by countries to ensure the quality of health-related information on the Internet were: voluntary compliance by content providers or web site owners (54.9%), technological filters and controls (28.3%), government intervention (e.g., laws, guidelines) (25.7%), educational programs for consumers and professionals (23.0%), official approval (e.g., accreditation, certification) (15.9%), and other (6.1%). ‘Other’ approaches were described by panels from Bangaldesh, Bhutan, Cameroon, Canada, India, Sri Lanka, and Nigeria. Separately, respondents indicated that government sponsored efforts in support of Internet literacy and safety were also employed (46.9%), with the remainder not using this approach (41.6%) or unsure (11.5%); World Bank high-income category countries were most likely (80.6%) to use this method.
Conclusions: While the most prevalent approach of ‘voluntary compliance’ for ensuring online health information quality is arguably even a coherent approach, it is inarguable that significant time, money, and resources would be required to establish effective governance mechanisms. Consequently, a better approach, especially in resource-poor environs, may be to invest in educational programs focused on eHealth literacy. Authoritative government- or organization-sponsored content that is optimized for online discovery and the potential of a health information specific top-level domain are other mechanisms that merit further exploration.