Open AccessEvaluation of ethical and legal perspectives of physician–patient relationship on Arabic Health Websites
Author(s) -
Rehab I. Abdel-Karim,
Amani W. Abdel-Halim,
Azza H. El-Elemi,
Abeer M. Hagras,
Nahed M. Ali
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
egyptian journal of forensic sciences/egyptian journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.238
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 2090-5939
pISSN - 2090-536X
DOI - 10.1016/j.ejfs.2011.11.002
Subject(s) - honesty , checklist , health care , the internet , ethical code , internet privacy , quality (philosophy) , psychology , arabic , informed consent , public relations , medical education , medicine , political science , world wide web , alternative medicine , law , social psychology , computer science , philosophy , epistemology , pathology , cognitive psychology , linguistics
The internet is becoming an increasingly popular tool for health seekers. Research on health websites raises ethical debate about the quality of information on the Websites. This work aimed to evaluate Arabic Health Websites from ethical and legal perspectives and evaluate the physician–patient relationship on the web.MethodsThis is a descriptive study. A Google and Yahoo search for the term “Arabic Health Websites” in Arabic language was performed and 430 relevant websites were accessed. They were evaluated using a checklist designed by research team based on E-Health Code of Ethics, 2000 to evaluate candor, honesty, quality of information, privacy, informed consent and professionalism in online healthcare.ResultsAuthors were mentioned in 21.4% of sample and 90% of sites did not mention when the information was last updated. It was noticed that 9.5% of sites mentioned collects data from users and whether data is shared with others or not. The limitations of consultation were mentioned in only 17.7%. The present study revealed that 42.5% of websites assured that healthcare providers obey the laws and regulations governing professional licensing and prescribing.ConclusionThis study revealed poor coverage of most evaluated items