Dr Pradeish Mohan an MBBS, PGDMLE, MBA (HCM), and MEM expert who has more than five years of experience in acute medicine, trauma, and emergency practice. He is currently employed at Billroth Hospitals, Chennai. He stresses on that online health information can lead to misdiagnosis.
When a patient explains to you about their health problems, what are the most common mistakes they make in their communication?
One common mistake people make when communicating with their doctor is not providing a complete medical timeline. I believe that an accurate history accounts for about 75% of providing the correct treatment. However, patients often decide what to tell their doctors instead of letting the doctor determine what information is relevant. This can lead to unnecessary investigations and improper treatment.
What does health literacy mean to you, and why is it important in patient care?
Health literacy means a state where my patient is able to give a precise history of underlying ailments, their co-morbidities, regular medications list, significant past and family history, previous surgical history and answered my relevant leading negative history questions.
If a patient is knowledgeable about the basics of their health condition, how helpful is it for the overall treatment procedure?
Assuming that a patient is knowledgeable, it certainly helps us to land at precise treatment plan. It makes you doing necessary investigations to support diagnosis and initiate prompt treatment which avoids major complications that could potentially arise from the underlying disease/ailment.
How much can medical misinformation impact treatment procedures?
Medical misinformation impacts the treatment process significantly, altering the path you and your doctor could take. It leads to unnecessary tests and investigations (or even misdiagnosis), which are costly, delays treatment, and complicate the underlying illness.
What are the most common myths or misinformation you see your patients falling prey to?
Patients often mislead themselves by changing their present health issues based on information they find on the internet. This can result in acute emergencies being missed and chronic illnesses going unattended. For example, a heart attack may be mistaken for severe gastritis or a painless lump could be overlooked as a potential carcinoma.
What is your most common advice to patients to stay away from health misinformation online?
The basic advice I give to my patients is that it’s not about Google, ChatGPT, or social media misleading individuals. Rather, it’s the way people interpret and use the information they find. People often provide information in a random order and arrive at diagnoses that may not exist. Always consult your doctor first. They can provide accurate differentials, avoiding confusion or misdiagnosis. They’ve years of medical training and practice, which you can then cross-check if necessary.
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