Relationships among different subjective measurements of consumer health information retrieval performance.

BACKGROUND: Millions of consumers perform health information retrieval (HIR) online. To better understand the consumers' perspective on HIR performance, we conducted an observation and interview study of 97 health information consumers. METHODS: Consumers were asked to perform HIR tasks and we recorded their view regarding performance using several differ-ent subjective measurements: finding the desired information, usefulness of the information found, satisfaction with the information, and intention to continue searching. Statistical analysis was applied to verify if the multiple subjective measurements were redundant. RESULT: The measurements ranged from slight agreement to no agreement among them. A number of reasons were identified for this lack of agreement. CONCLUSION: Although related, the four subjective measurements of HIR performance are distinct from each other and carried different useful information

Positive attitudes and failed queries: an exploration of the conundrums of consumer health information retrieval.

Several studies have found that consumers report a high level of satisfaction with the Internet as a health information resource. Belied by this positive attitude, however, are other studies reporting that consumers were often unsuccessful in searching for health information. In this paper, we present an interview and observation study in which we asked health consumers to search for health information on the Internet after first stating their search goals. Upon the conclusion of the session they were asked to evaluate their searches. We found that many consumers were unable to find satisfactory information when performing a specific query, while in general the group viewed health information retrieval (HIR) on the Internet in a positive light. We analyzed the observed search sessions to determine what factors accounted for the failure of specific searches and positive attitudes, and also discussed potential informatics solutions.

A technique to improve the spelling suggestion rank in medical queries.

Correct spelling is crucial for online search engines to function well, and health information is highly sought after online. We propose a technique for increasing the effectiveness of spell-checking tools for use with medical queries. Our results show a marked improvement in the ranking of the correct term within the suggestion list returned by the spelling correction tool, as well as a lessening of the drawbacks associated with using larger dictionaries.