Published in News

Microsoft examines causes of 'cyberchondria'

by on25 November 2008

Image

Latest word for neurotic hypochondria

 

People who look up headaches on the Internet and conclude they have a brain tumor might be suffering from cyberchondria, according to research carried out by Microsoft. 

Microsoft researchers published the results of a study of health-related Web searches on the company's Live search engine as well as a survey of the company's employees. It suggests that self-diagnosis by search engine frequently leads Web searchers to conclude the worst.

The research was carried out as part of an effort to add features to Microsoft's search service that could make it more of an adviser and less of a blind information retrieval tool. Microsoft's study is the first systematic look at the anxieties of people doing searches related to health care.

Researcher Eric Horvitz, who is an artificial intelligence researcher at Microsoft Research, said many people treated search engines as if they could answer questions like a human expert.  They looked at the first couple of results and if they find 'brain tumor' they start from there.

Web searches for things like headache and chest pain were just as likely or more likely to lead people to pages describing serious conditions as benign ones, even though the serious illnesses are rare. A headache caused by caffeine withdrawal is often identified as a brain tumor, for example.

Horvitz said that in the future it would be possible to create search engines that were able to detect medical queries and offer advice that did not automatically make Web searchers fear the worst.

More here.

Last modified on 26 November 2008
Rate this item
(0 votes)