MedlinePlus: Overview, Benefits, Risks, and Recommendations

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Table of Contents

Health Information Websites
Overview of MedlinePlus
Patients
Clinicians
Benefits
Risks
Conclusion: Recommendations for Nurses
References

Health Information Websites

Searching for health-related topics online became popular.
Contain medical information and emotional support.
Websites: WebMD, MedlinePlus, and Medscape.
Information attractiveness seems to be more critical than credibility.

The invention of the Internet opened a new era of online communities. For example, many people prefer to search for health information online due to its constant availability (Jung et al., 2018). Online health information sites provide medical facts and emotional support to patients (Jung et al., 2018). Many medical websites like WebMD, MedlinePlus, and Medscape are known. Sadly, users primarily choose to read visually attractive information regardless of its reliability (Jung et al., 2018). It appears that online health sources should be credible and visually appealing for patients.

Overview of MedlinePlus

MedlinePlus.gov was launched in 1998.
Aim: to increase public awareness about health.
Medical content is free of charge.
Information is provided in English and Spanish.

One of the most credible patient information websites is MedlinePlus. The National Library of Medicine started MedlinePlus.gov in 1998 to increase public awareness about health and medicine (Ahmed, 2020). The U.S. Congress funds this website; thus, all information that comes from public health agencies is free and does not contain any advertisement (Ahmed, 2020). This website is bilingual, providing health facts in English and Spanish.

Patients

Encyclopedia about drugs, supplements, and procedures.
Information on the website is well structured.
Plain language for a general audience.
It can be used on any device.

This online health information site is designed to provide convenient access for patients and caregivers. MedlinePlus offers a comprehensive overview of drugs, vitamins, supplements, laboratory tests, and surgical procedures using simple language understandable for the general public (Ahmed, 2020). The creators modified the site to allow its use on any device (Ahmed, 2020). All the information is adequately structured, simplifying the site navigation for first-time users.

Clinicians

Clinicians struggle to explain health topics in plain language.
Provides manuals for patient education.
Links to scientific databases for professionals.
Accurately informed consumers become better patients.

Although the initial purpose of this website was to provide information for patients, healthcare workers also utilize it. Indeed, it helps many clinicians who struggle with explaining medical topics in simple language by offering links to patient education manuals (Sanders et al., 2018). Moreover, it is connected to scientific databases for medical workers (Ahmed, 2020). The general help for clinicians is educating the public, which results in better patients.

Benefits

Knowledge on the website is free.
Information is organized and easy-to-navigate.
Plain language ensures patient understanding.
Medical facts are retrieved from reliable sources.

One of the main benefits of MedlinePlus is that information is always available for free. The second benefit is that medical facts are organized alphabetically; therefore, it is easy to navigate any information (Ahmed, 2020). Third, website creators use plain language to make medical knowledge understandable for a general audience (Quesenberry, 2017). Fourth, the site content is generated by professionals using data from reliable sources.

Risks

The rate of self-medication may increase.
Health information may be outdated.
Inaccurate data utilization leads to false self-diagnosing.
Misunderstanding results in adverse health outcomes.

Although MedlinePlus was designed to spread medical knowledge, it may decrease hospital visits by patients and promote self-medication. This website contains a vast amount of information; thus, it can sometimes be outdated or inaccurate because of delays in updates (Ahmed, 2020). Moreover, patients may use its content to self-diagnose, but mistaken understanding of signs and symptoms may lead to disease misinterpretation and adverse patient outcomes.

Conclusion: Recommendations for Nurses

MedlinePlus manuals to educate patients.
Use videos to explain procedures.
Warn patients about adverse sequelae of self-diagnosis.
Use links to scientific databases to learn about medical advancements.

To sum up, MedlinePlus is one of the most reliable patient education websites. It provides manuals, images, and videos about diseases and procedures that nurses can use to educate patients in hospitals. However, nurses need to notify patients that this website cannot replace proper medical advice. Finally, nurses can utilize links to scientific databases and clinical trials sites to learn about recent innovations in clinical practice.

References

Ahmed, T. (2020). MedlinePlus at 21: A website devoted to consumer health information. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 269, 303-312.

Jung, W. S., Chung, M. Y., & Rhee, E. S. (2018). The effects of attractiveness and source expertise on online health sites. Health Communication, 33(8), 962-971. Web.

Quesenberry, A. C. (2017). Plain language for patient education. Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet, 21(2), 209-215. Web.

Sanders, M., Bringley, K., Thomas, M., Boyd, M., Farah, S., & Fiscella, K. (2018). Promoting MedlinePlus utilization in a federally qualified health center using a multimodal approach. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 106(3), 361-369. Web.

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