title: The evolving state of online search for consumer health information.
abstract: Online search for consumer health information is a public health concern. General-purpose search engines have historically returned health-related query results of dubious relevance and quality. Meanwhile, consumers have become increasingly reliant on and trusting of these engines. General-purpose search engines have attempted to make their interfaces more consumer-friendly with respect to consumer health queries and their results more relevant and trustworthy. We illustrate the characteristics of the evolving health search landscape using network visualization.
authors.affiliation: Michigan Center for Clinical and Health Research, University of Michigan Medical School, USA.
authors.forename: Dale A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hunscher
mesh_terms: D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D003628:Database Management Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D008824:Michigan; D009862:Online Systems; D057386:Search Engine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*