ArticleJMIR formative research2025
The Influence of Medical Expertise and Information Search Skills on Medical Information Searching: Comparative Analysis From a Free Data Set.
Article in JMIR formative research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Assessment of pharmacy students' engagement in using national e-learning resources: a study from a public university in Saudi Arabia.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- [Analysis of Information literacy skills in Medical Residents].Revista medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social · 2025Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNowadays, the internet has become the primary source of information for physicians seeking answers to medical questions about their patients before consulting colleagues. However, many websites provide low-quality, unreliable information that lacks scientific validation. Therefore, physicians must develop strong information search skills to locate relevant, accurate, and evidence-based content. However, previous studies have shown that physicians often have poor search skills and struggle to find information on the web, which may have detrimental consequences for patient care.
objectiveThis study aims to determine how medical students and residents searched for medical information on the internet, the quality of the web resources they used (including their nature and credibility), and how they evaluated the reliability of these resources and the answers they provided. Given the importance of domain knowledge (in this case, medicine) and information search skills in the search process, we compared the search behaviors of medical students and residents with those of computer science students. While medical students and residents possess greater medical-related knowledge, computer science students have stronger information search skills.
methodsA total of 20 students participated in this study: 10 medical students and residents, and 10 computer science students. Data were extracted from a freely accessible data set in accordance with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles. All participants searched for medical information online to make a diagnosis, select a treatment, and enhance their knowledge of a medical condition-3 primary activities they commonly perform. We analyzed search performance metrics, including search time, the use of medical-related keywords, and the accuracy of the information found, as well as the nature and credibility of web resources used by medical students and residents compared with computer science students.
resultsMedical students and residents provided more accurate answers than computer science students without requiring additional time. Their medical expertise also enabled them to better assess the reliability of resources and select high-quality web sources, primarily from hospital websites. However, it is noteworthy that they made limited use of evidence-based tools such as PubMed.
conclusionsAlthough medical students and residents generally outperformed computer science students, they did not frequently use evidence-based tools. As previously observed, they may avoid databases due to the risk of encountering too many irrelevant articles and difficulties in applying appropriate filters to locate relevant information. Nevertheless, clinical and practical evidence-based medicine plays a crucial role in updating physicians' knowledge, improving patient care, and enhancing physician-patient relationships. Therefore, information search skills should be an integral part of medical education and continuing professional development for physicians.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.