Advice from a medical expert through the Internet on queries about AIDS and hepatitis: analysis of a pilot experiment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Advice from a medical expert on concerns and queries expressed anonymously through the Internet by patients and later posted on the Web, offers a new type of patient-doctor relationship. The aim of the current study was to perform a descriptive analysis of questions about AIDS and hepatitis made to an infectious disease expert and sent through the Internet to a consumer-oriented Web site in the Spanish language.

Methods and findings

Questions were e-mailed and the questions and answers were posted anonymously in the "expert-advice" section of a Web site focused on AIDS and hepatitis. We performed a descriptive study and a temporal analysis of the questions received in the first 12 months after the launch of the site. A total of 899 questions were received from Dec

SUBMITTER: Marco J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1483911 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature