Don’t use Wikipedia for medical information and tell your doctor not to either. It is the most popular reference site not only for the lay public, but also for doctors – anywhere from 47% to 70% of physicians and medical students admit to using it as a reference.
A study just published in a medical journal shows that Wikipedia very often offers erroneous information.The researchers looked at articles on 10 common conditions: coronary artery disease, lung cancer, major depression, concussion, osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive lung disease, hypertension,diabetes, back pain, and hyperlipidemia.
Articles on each condition were evaluated independently by two physicians to make sure that the evaluations were not biased and were consistent between two doctors. The information on Wikipedia was compared to the up-to-date information on these diseases published in scientific medical journals. Shockingly, only information on concussion was accurate, while information on the other nine conditions contained serious errors. This study did not include migraines or other headaches, but it is very likely that at least some information on these conditions are also incorrect.
Tell your doctor about this study, just to make sure that he or she knows about it. For consumers, the best sources of information are medlineplus.com, mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions, and WebMD.com.
