3am and Baby's Burning UpEvaluating Information on Children's Healthby Cathy Allison |
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A good children's health book can be a parent's best friend in the wee hours of the morning. It will help you determine if your child needs immediate medical attention or can help put your mind at ease when you are pretty sure it's just colic but want a second opinion.
Using the Internet, it is also possible to get a third, fourth or sixth opinion on your problem in the middle of the night. There are thousands of health websites and newsgroups just a keystroke away, but it is important to remember the old adage, "Don't believe everything you read." Many medical professionals are concerned about the accuracy of information posted at Internet sources.
Proceed with caution
A study by the British Medical Journal evaluated health websites giving users information on how to treat a child's fever. Three of the sites recommended administering aspirin, even though it is contraindicated because of the risk of Reyes' Syndrome. Only four percent of the sites in the study adhered closely to the guidelines for managing children's fevers published in a standard medical reference book.
So how do you know if the information you are reading is accurate? Here are some tips for evaluating a health website's reliability:
- Does the site list the articles' authors and their credentials?
- Are the articles referenced?
- Why was the information posted? Are they selling something or referring users to e-commerce sites and taking a cut of the profits? If so, there could be a bias in their reporting.
- Check the date each article was first published. Is the content recent? Has it been updated? If several links at the site no longer work, that can be a clue that the information may also be dated.
- Can you find the same information elsewhere? Ideally, you should be able to find at least two other sources that give the same advice.
- Be wary if you cannot easily find contact information.
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About the author: Cathy Allison is a freelance writer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her husband and their two-year-old daughter. Her work has been published in magazines and newspapers throughout Canada, the U.S and Australia.
