Maybe You Can Get Quality Information on Internet Forums

[OldGuy]

Although $ome would have you believe otherwi$e.

Quality of Weight Loss Advice on Internet Forums

Kevin O. Hwang MDa, Kiran Farheen MDa, Craig W. Johnson PhDb, Eric J. Thomas MD, MPHa, Ann S. Barnes MDc and Elmer V. Bernstam MD, MSE, MSaa, b, ,
aDepartment of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical School at Houston
bUniversity of Texas School of Health Information Sciences at Houston
cDepartment of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine.
Received 9 February 2007; accepted 25 April 2007. Available online 30 June 2007.





Abstract

Background

Adults use the Internet for weight loss information, sometimes by participating in discussion forums. Our purpose was to analyze the quality of advice exchanged on these forums.

Methods

This was a retrospective analysis of messages posted to 18 Internet weight loss forums during 1 month in 2006. Advice was evaluated for congruence with clinical guidelines; potential for causing harm; and subsequent correction when it was contradictory to guidelines (erroneous) or potentially harmful. Message- and forum-specific characteristics were evaluated as predictors of advice quality and self-correction.

Results

Of 3368 initial messages, 266 (7.9%) were requests for advice. Of 654 provisions of advice, 56 (8.6%) were erroneous and 19 of these 56 (34%) were subsequently corrected. Forty-three (6.6%) provisions of advice were harmful, and 12 of these 43 (28%) were subsequently corrected. Messages from low-activity forums (fewer messages) were more likely than those from high-activity forums to be erroneous (10.6% vs 2.4%, P < .001) or harmful (8.4% vs 1.2%, P < .001). In high-activity forums, 2 of 4 (50%) erroneous provisions of advice and 2 of 2 (100%) potentially harmful provisions of advice were corrected by subsequent postings. Compared with general weight loss advice, medication-related advice was more likely to be erroneous (P = .02) or harmful (P = .01).

Conclusions

Most advice posted on highly active Internet weight loss forums is not erroneous or harmful. However, clinical and research strategies are needed to address the quality of medication-related advice.

Keywords: Internet; Obesity; Overweight; Weight loss


This research was supported in part by Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions Grant D55HP00045, National Library of Medicine grant 5 K22 LM008306 (to E. V. B.), and National Institutes of Health/National Center for Research Resources (1 UL1 RR 024148).
Requests for reprints should be addressed to Elmer V. Bernstam, MD, MSE, MS, School of Health Information Sciences and Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7000 Fannin Street, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77030.

Source

[RacerBill]

Interesting idea, but I don't find the abstract very informative.

They checked eighteen forums? Out of how many zillions on the Net? Granted, the study can't monitor them ALL, but that's such a tiny fraction that I'm not sure it can even be considered representative.

Also, I'm wondering what their "clinical guidelines" are. USDA Food Pyramid, with high-carb and low fat?

[Chaney Weiner]

It would be interesting to see some type of research done regarding paid sites versus non paid sites. In addition I noticed that there was no mention made about the mind aspect of weight/fat loss in online forums. People do need to be aware of the information that they receive from online forums/websites because there is alot of junk out there. The ones that are exceptional truly stand out.

Chaney