Medizin-transparent and MedBusters – evidence-based fact-checking services for the German-speaking lay public

Session: 

Oral session: Knowledge translation and communicating evidence (7)

Date: 

Tuesday 18 September 2018 - 15:10 to 15:20

Location: 

Ochil 2

All authors in correct order:

Harlfinger J1, Kerschner B1, Gartlehner G1
1 Cochrane Austria, Austria
Presenting author and contact person

Presenting author:

Julia Harlfinger

Contact person:

Julia Harlfinger
Abstract text
Background:
About half of the Austrian and German population looks for health information on the internet. However, many health information websites are not evidence-based. According to a survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation, two out of three Germans find it difficult to tell whether the information they find is reliable. The situation is similar in Austria.

Objectives:
We aim to enhance health literacy in German-speaking countries by checking the evidence behind claims in advertisements, the media and on health topics in which the general public is interested. Therefore, in 2012 Cochrane Austria founded www.Medizin-transparent.at.

Methods:
Readers can send in questions about medical information they hear in the media, in advertisements, or find online. These questions are researched by our scientific team. We conduct ultra-rapid reviews based on a systematic literature search. Our methods are published on our website. We attach importance to framing the text in a way that is easy for lay people to understand, and follow the German 'Good practice guidelines for health information'. We publish the answers on our website. Since 2017 our content has also been available via the mobile app MedBusters, which we co-founded.

Results:
Since 2012, Medizin-transparent.at has published around 500 evidence-based fact-checking articles. Approximately two new or older, updated articles are published per week. The website has around 100,000 visits per month and has favourable coverage in the mass media. Content providers for the MedBusters app include Medizin-transparent.at and other high-quality health information providers from Germany (Gesundheitsinformation.de by IQWIG – Institut für Qualität und Wirtschaftlichkeit im Gesundheitswesen; fact boxes by Max Planck Institute for Human Development).

Conclusions:
With Medizin-transparent.at and the MedBusters app, we have successfully established two online platforms aimed at increasing health literacy in German-speaking countries.

Patient or healthcare consumer involvement:
Healthcare consumers shape the content of Medizin-transparent.at and the MedBusters app because they can send in requests for topics that should be covered next.

Relevance to patients and consumers: 

When searching for health information patients are often lost in information overload and find it hard to distinguish reliable from biased health information. Our non-profit response service Medizin-transparent offers lay people in german-speaking countries reliable, evidence-based health information in their mother tongue enabling shared decision-making and fostering health literacy.