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Crowdsourced health : how what you do on the Internet will improve medicine
Yom-Tov E., The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2016. 160 pp. Type: Book (978-0-262034-50-0)
Date Reviewed: Jul 20 2016

This is an excellent book by a reputed scientist who has worked for several years in the area of analyzing data gathered from people’s web searches of medical questions. Additional material in the form of notes is found throughout the book. It has a useful index at the end. The book consists of five chapters. It does not contain any additional references. Occasionally, reference is made to work by others and a link is provided.

The author identifies the different partners with whom he collaborated. He meticulously points out why a particular approach would not work and why he chose the methods used in the book to arrive at the results. In chapter 1, the author describes in detail how all users leave a wealth of data through their web searches and how those searches are tied to the specific medical condition that they are experiencing at that time. Chapter 2 explains that people use Internet searches because of the anonymity provided (as opposed to using social media). The author provides good arguments to show that analyzing Internet search queries is a good way to gauge issues faced by the general public when it comes to health. However, such data is not widely available to all users; Internet search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing do not make it available to everyone because of privacy concerns. Since the author worked at two of these companies, he had access to the search data. He shows the beneficial aspects of using such data.

I found the extensive details on the medical condition anorexia nervosa somewhat difficult to read. A whole chapter (3) is devoted to this topic in great detail. It is clear from the various details presented in the book that the data captured from searches is a useful indicator. Chapter 4 deals with public health. In this chapter, the author shows why particular approaches were taken to gather data. Chapter 5 discusses “What Patients Want to Know About Their Disease, and How Information from the Internet Can Help Them.” The book concludes with an appendix, “How Can One Gain Access to Internet Data?” This appendix is somewhat misleading in that it talks about how one can get some aggregate data from search engines. The links provided do not yield any data.

Overall, the book makes an important contribution to the literature. We all could benefit from Internet searches that shed light on what types of diseases are bothering people.

Reviewer:  S. Srinivasan Review #: CR144607 (1610-0744)
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  Reviewer Selected
 
 
Health (J.3 ... )
 
 
Internet (H.4.3 ... )
 
 
Medical Information Systems (J.3 ... )
 
 
Web-Based Interaction (H.5.3 ... )
 
 
Group And Organization Interfaces (H.5.3 )
 
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