Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-20T18:38:31.732Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 8 - Using the Internet to Educate on Sex and Pregnancy

Grading Internet Information

from Section 1 - General Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2022

Dan Farine
Affiliation:
Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto
Pablo Tobías González
Affiliation:
Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina de Parla, Madrid
Get access

Summary

The vast expansion of data via the Internet did not overlook health and healthcare information. However, lack of supervision, the amount of data, and misleading information online has a profound impact on the health of patients themselves and on the quality and efficiency of healthcare. Many pregnant women utilize the Internet as a major source of information and use the unsupervised information to navigate pregnancy and fertility-related decisions due to its accessibility. The Internet has become a major information tool for obstetricians and gynecologists as well, with over 90% of physicians using it on a daily basis. In addition, any physician needs to know what are the trends in the media and to address them accordingly when confronted by a patient. We describe the essential steps when searching online in order to find the most reliable information: (1) consider the source, by verifying the credentials of and information about the authors; (2) focus on quality, by using only peer-reviewed published data; (3) consider website funding, by distinguishing advertisements from health information; (4) protect your privacy and personal information; and (5) there are no magical solutions, so suspect websites or companies that claim dramatic results and which seem too good to be true.

Type
Chapter
Information
Sex and Pregnancy
From Evidence-Based Medicine to Dr Google
, pp. 49 - 54
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Eysenbach, G., Diepgen, T. L.. Towards quality management of medical information on the internet: evaluation, labelling, and filtering of information. BMJ 1998;317:1496–502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eysenbach, G., Powell, J., Kuss, O., Sa, E. R.. Empirical studies assessing the quality of health information for consumers on the World Wide Web: a systematic review. JAMA 2002;287:2691–700.Google Scholar
Powell, J. A., Darvell, M., Gray, J. A. M.. The doctor, the patient and the world-wide web: how the internet is changing healthcare. J R Soc Med 2003;96:74–6.Google Scholar
Showell, C.. Risk and the internet of things: Damocles, Pythia, or Pandora? Stud Health Technol Inform 2016;221: 31–5.Google Scholar
Kozlov, D., Veijalainen, J., Ali, Y.. Security and privacy threats in IoT architectures. Workshop on Security Tools and Techniques for Internet of Things (SeTTIT), Oslo, September 24–26, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.4108/icst.bodynets.2012.250550 (accessed December 25, 2020).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vidalis, S., Angelopoulou, O.. Assessing identity theft in the Internet of Things. IT Convergence Practice 2014;2:1521.Google Scholar
Reback, S., Costello, T.. Deconstructing the Internet of Things. The system promises substantial benefits, but privacy and security concerns may prompt new rules. 2014. www.multivu.com/players/English/7371431-bloomberg-visa-the-digital-trust-securingcommerce/flexSwf/impAsset/document/166030bd-bc8d-40ed-97c2-5f60a0270bbd.pdf (accessed December 25, 2020).Google Scholar
Papoutsi, C., Reed, J. E., Marston, C., et al. Patient and public views about the security and privacy of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in the UK: results from a mixed methods study. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2015;15:86.Google Scholar
Whittaker, Z.. New security flaws found in popular IoT baby monitors. 2015. www.zdnet.com/article/security-vulnerability-flaw-internet-things-baby-monitors/ (accessed December 25, 2020).Google Scholar
Tonsaker, T., Bartlett, G., Trpkov, C.. Information sur la santé dans internet: mine d’or ou champ de mines? Can Fam Physician 2014;60:419–20.Google Scholar
Bes-Rastrollo, M., Schulze, M. B., Ruiz-Canela, M., Martinez-Gonzalez, M. A.. Financial conflicts of interest and reporting bias regarding the association between sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review of systematic reviews. PLoS Med 2013;10:e1001578.Google Scholar
Romano, A. M.. A changing landscape: implications of pregnant women’s Internet use for childbirth educators. J Perinat Educ 2007;16:1824.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lagan, B. M., Sinclair, M., Kernohan, W. G.. What is the impact of the Internet on decision-making in pregnancy? A global study. Birth 2011;38:336–45.Google Scholar
Tuil, W. S., van Selm, M., Verhaak, C. M., de Vries Robbé, P. F., Kremer, J. A. M.. Dynamics of Internet usage during the stages of in vitro fertilization. Fertil Steril 2009;91:953–6.Google Scholar
Declercq, E. R., Sakala, C., Corry, M. P., Applebaum, S.. Listening to Mothers II: Report of the Second National U.S. Survey of Women’s Childbearing Experiences. J Perinat Educ 2007;16:914.Google Scholar
Larsson, M.. A descriptive study of the use of the Internet by women seeking pregnancy-related information. Midwifery 2009;25:1420.Google Scholar
Taylor, H.. Harris Poll #76, July 31, 2007. Harris Poll shows number of “cyberchondriacs” – adults who have ever gone online for health information – increases to an estimated 160 million nationwide.Google Scholar
Masters, K.. For what purpose and reasons do doctors use the Internet: a systematic review. Int J Med Inform 2008;77:416.Google Scholar
Feingold, M., Kewalramani, R., Kaufmann, G. E.. Internet and obstetrics and gynecology. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 1997;76:718–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×