Trip Database Blog

Not particularly scientific but here is my attempt at comparing results from Google and Bing (using this rather useful side-by-side tool http://www.blackdog.ie/google-bing/search.php).

I’m based in the UK and the results went to the .com site (as opposed to .co.uk so it’s not clear what impact this might have. I’ve selected five searches which seem fairly reasonable terms.
I’ve also included the URLs so you can better see where the results are from.

Search term: prostate cancer screening

Google top 5

• Cancer – Prostate – Prostate Cancer Screening: A Decision Guide (www.cdc.gov/cancer/Prostate/publications/decisionguide)
• Prostate Cancer Screening – National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/screening/prostate/patient)
• Prostate Cancer: Screening and Testing – National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/screening/prostate)
• Prostate Cancer Risk Management (www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/prostate/index.html)
• Prostate cancer screening: Should you get a PSA test? – MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com/health/prostate-cancer/HQ01273)

Bing top 5

• Prostate Cancer Screening – National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/screening/prostate/patient)
• Cancer – Prostate – Prostate Cancer Screening: A Decision Guide (www.cdc.gov/cancer/Prostate/publications/decisionguide)
• Prostate cancer – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer)
• Problems with screening aren’t prostate cancer-specific (prostatecancerinfolink.net/2009/05/12/problems-with-screening-arent-prostate-cancer-specific)Prostate Cancer: Screening and Testing – National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/screening/prostate)

Verdict – A marginal win for Google, Bing returned results that were slightly less focussed (e.g. the general Wikipedia article on prostate cancer or slightly less reputable.

Search term: MMR autism

Google top 5

• Does the MMR Vaccine Cause Autism? – DukeHealth.org (http://www.dukehealth.org/HealthLibrary/AdviceFromDoctors/YourChildsHealth/mmr_vaccine_and_autism)
• Autism and the MMR Vaccine (http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/autism/mmr/)
• NIP: Vacsafe/Concerns/Autism/FAQs-Autism and MMR (http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vacsafe/concerns/autism/autism-mmr.htm)
• BBC NEWS Health ‘No link’ between MMR and autism (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4311613.stm)
• NHS Blog Doctor: Barack Obama : MMR & autism, the wibble and the woo (http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/2009/01/barack-obama-mmr-autism-wibble-and-woo.html)

Bing top 5

• NIP: Vacsafe/Concerns/Autism/FAQs-Autism and MMR (http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vacsafe/concerns/autism/autism-mmr.htm)
• Autism and the MMR Vaccine (http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/autism/mmr/)
• Link Between Autism And the Measles Mumps Rubella Vaccine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMR_vaccine_controversy)
• Does the MMR Vaccine Cause Autism? – DukeHealth.org (http://www.dukehealth.org/HealthLibrary/AdviceFromDoctors/YourChildsHealth/mmr_vaccine_and_autism)
• the Mmr Vaccination Causing Autism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMR_vaccine)

Verdict – A clear win for Bing. A controversial topic and it returned the most robust sources.

Search term: type 2 diabetes metformin

Google top 5

• Metformin: Oral Medication for Type 2 Diabetes – Metformin and …(http://diabetes.about.com/od/equipmentandbreakthroughs/a/metformin.htm)
• Oral Medications For Managing Type 2 Diabetes – Type 2 Diabetes …(http://diabetes.about.com/od/equipmentandbreakthroughs/p/oralmeds.htm)
• Diabetes – Treatments for Type 2 (http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/27000260/)
• Type 2 diabetes treatment (http://medweb.bham.ac.uk/easdec/prevention/HBA1c%20&%20type%202%20diabetes.htm)
• Fighting Type 2 Diabetes With Metformin (http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/metformin.shtml)

Bing top 5

• Metformin: Oral Medication for Type 2 Diabetes – Metformin and …(http://diabetes.about.com/od/equipmentandbreakthroughs/a/metformin.htm)
• Merck Serono Launches Glucophage(R) Powder (innovative Powder … (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149042.php)
• Clinical Alert: Diet and Exercise Dramatically Delay Type 2 Diabetes … (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/alerts/diabetes01.html)
• Health Links Content: Lactic acidosis: Lactic acidosis associated with … (http://healthlinks.mediwire.com/main/Content.aspx?ArticleID=197139)
• NEJM — Reduction in the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes with Lifestyle … (http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/346/6/393)

Verdict – Clear win for Google. I felt the results were more focussed using Google.

Search term: side effects statins

Google top 5

• Statins – drug class, medical uses, medication side effects, and …(http://www.medicinenet.com/statins/article.htm)
• Statins: Side effects of anti-cholesterol drugs questioned Mail …(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-392689/Statins-Side-effects-anti-cholesterol-drugs-questioned.html)
• Statins: the truth Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-432395/Statins-truth.html)
• Dangers of Statin Drugs: What You Haven’t Been Told About Popular …(http://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/statin.html)
• Statin side effects: Weigh the benefits and risks – MayoClinic.com (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/statin-side-effects/MY00205)

Bing top 5

• Statins – drug class, medical uses, medication side effects, and …(http://www.medicinenet.com/statins/article.htm)
• Statins Side Effects 2008 « teamrich.wordpress.com (http://teamrich.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/statins-side-effects-2008/)
• In the Real World, a Slew of Side Effects from Statins (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_04/b4068057096279.htm)
• Statins’ Side Effects Under Fire – CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/11/eveningnews/main648685.shtml)
• Statins – Statin Drug Side Effects (http://www.spacedoc.net/statin_side_effects.html

Verdict – A draw, I wasn’t really impressed with either (half a point each)

Search term: acne

Google top 5

• Acne.org – Acne treatment and community (http://www.acne.org/)
• Acne vulgaris – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acne_vulgaris)
• Acne Jeans, Shoes & Ready To Wear – Acne Online Shop (http://shop.acnestudios.com/)
• Acne.com – Acne Treatment Information (http://www.acne.com/)
• Acne (http://www.aad.org/public/publications/pamphlets/common_acne.html)

Bing top 5

• Acne (Internal link to content provided by Mayo Clinic)
• Acne.org – Acne treatment and community (http://www.acne.org/)
• Acne.com – Acne Treatment Information (http://www.acne.com/)
• Acne vulgaris – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acne_vulgaris)
• Acne (Pimples) Causes, Treatment Information and Types on MedicineNet … (http://www.medicinenet.com/acne/article.htm)

Verdict – A win for Bing.

Overall verdict is – rather boringly – a draw with two ‘wins’ each and the rather disappointing draw. Given that Bing is so new (2 days old) I think it’s pretty remarkable!

NOTE: See techcrunch’s none health comparison: Search Smackdown: Bing Vs. Google

A thought provoking article on doctors use of wikipedia:

“No surprise, these days more and more doctors are searching online for medical information. What is surprising, however, is that in a recent study, nearly 50% of physicians indicated that they use Wikipedia—the open-access encyclopedia that allows anyone to edit articles—as their source for medical information.”

See full article: Beyond Wikipedia

For those long-term users of TRIP you’ll possibly notice that our advanced search is prone to breaking and I have no idea why this is. Only recently we spent an age fixing the previous break (see recent notification of fix). It has now broken again. This is tremendously frustrating for us and our users.

Given our current overhaul of the site we’re going to build the advanced search from scratch. This should mean that previous problems (possible caused by building new code on older unstable code) will be eliminated. Given the history I’m not saying it’ll never break again, but by going back to nothing and starting again we’re giving ourselves the best chance.

Timetable: We envisage the new code being released at the same time as the rest of the new site, so about 4-6 weeks.

Once again apologies for the poor service but bear with us the new site will be well worth the wait.

Our latest development is progressing well, our developers indicate that they are over 50% through the work which is great news. I’ve had an initial look at the early work and I’m genuinely thrilled by the output so far. Far too many highlights to mention, but as we get closer to launch and I get familiar with their workings I’ll review the major ones.

We should also be getting a feel for the new design of the site in the next week or so. With so many new features, especially on the results page, we’ll no doubt be having a major upheaval in the results department – what that looks like, I have no idea. We’re using the eponymous design company called Mark Boulton Design (Mark has recently published ‘A practical guide to designing for the web‘). So far it’s been a rewarding experience and it’s refreshing to use a dedicated design service.

Finally, one ‘stand out’ joy of the re-design has been the new relationships we’ve been building. We’ve reached out to a significant number of new content providers ranging from medical news to medical videos (all aimed at clinicians) and they have all responded favorably to contact. Talking with other clinical web enthusiasts from similar size companies (and some larger ones) has been a real bonus and we’ve learnt so much. The bottom line being that building relationships make us (at TRIP) stronger.

A new ‘search engine’ called Wolfram Alpha has launched. I’ve not had much time to play with it and when I have I’ve rarely got the results I want. It may be early days, but being confusing is not a positive attribute.

Fortunately, others have been more patient and Medgadget have just published Wolfram Alpha and Its Medical Powers. It’s certainly worth a read!

Clinical Correlations is the NYU internal medicine blog. It’s a great blog, so much so it won the 2008 Best Clinical Sciences Weblog award.

We love it at TRIP, and therefore decided to make it the first blog to be searchable via TRIP. With the development of web publishing it’d be a mistake to overlook blogs as a source of good clinical information/evidence. We have little doubt that it’ll be a great resource and that TRIP users will benefit from its inclusion.

Let us know what you think!

DynaMed is normally a subscription only service so I was very pleased when they announced that their swine flu resource is being made freely available (click here). Given the nature of the panic I thought this was a nice touch. Well done DynaMed and well done Ebsco (the publishers).

I’ve also updated the entry on the TRIP list of swine influenza resources (click here).

Find below a list of links that might be of useful to those concerned with swine influenza. If you can think of any we’ve missed, please let us know.

General Information

• CDC swine influenza centre
• CDC latest news on swine influenza (has RSS feed, so very useful)
• World Health Organisation swine influenza centre
• USA Pandemic Flu centre
• Wikipedia article on swine influenza
• National Library of Medicine has LOTS of great links, including material in Spanish, a YouTube webcast and podcast,
• DynaMed has an article on the topic. This is freely available, which is a nice touch for a subscription website.
• Carry out a TRIP search for pandemic flu, LOTS of great resources – click here.
• NaTHNaC advice for travellers (UK)
• RCGP have updated their guidance on Pandemic Flu
• BMA have waded in with information/links
• How to Prepare for a Pandemic a great list of links

Governmental press releases

• Canadian Public Health Agency press release
• UK Health Protection Agency press release
• Other HPA press releases
• USA Homeland security

Related research articles

• Non-pharmaceutical public health interventions for pandemic influenza: an evaluation of the evidence base, BioMedCentral 2007
• Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses: systematic review, BMJ 2007

Specific Patient Information

• NHS Choices
• Behind the Headlines Q&A
• Medline Plus

Others

• Responsive Q&A on swine influenza (Spanish)
• View real time comments on twitter & also see this blog article on disinformation on twitter via David Rothman’s blog.
• Google Maps
• HealthMap
• BBC News mapping, looks the best to me!
• Clinical Correlations blog article