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Google could help doctors diagnose illnesses
Search engine correct 58 per cent of the time

By Andy McCue

Published: Friday 10 November 2006

Google searches could help doctors to diagnose the illnesses of patients with unusual symptoms, according to a new medical research study.

Based on a sample of 26 past medical cases - including Creutzfeld Jakob Disease (CJD) and Cushing's syndrome - the research found that Google made the correct diagnosis in 15 of them (58 per cent) when the symptoms were entered into the search engine.

That still leaves 42 per cent of cases where the diagnosis wasn't correct but the Australian doctors who conducted the study said in some of those cases Google gave the correct diagnosis but it wasn't specific enough to be considered correct for the purpose of the research.

The doctors did the Google search before reading the diagnosis of each case and then selected the three most prominent diagnoses that seemed to fit the symptoms from Google's results. These were then compared to the correct diagnoses in the case records.

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The study said: "We suspect that using Google to search for a diagnosis is likely to be more effective for conditions with unique symptoms and signs that can easily be used as search terms. Searches are less likely to be successful in complex diseases with non-specific symptoms."

Using Google searches could also be useful in aiding diagnoses for doctors in training, the study added.

The Googling for a diagnosis - use of Google as a diagnostic aid paper is available online at the British Medical Journal's website.