Brazilian patient Luana, 10, talks with her doctor before the 2014 World Cup Group A soccer match between Brazil and Mexico at the Cancer Itaci Hospital in Sao Paulo June 17, 2014.
Brazilian patient Luana, 10, talks with her doctor before the 2014 World Cup Group A soccer match between Brazil and Mexico at the Cancer Itaci Hospital in Sao Paulo June 17, 2014. REUTERS/Nacho Doce (BRAZIL - Tags: SPORT SOCCER WORLD CUP SOCIETY HEALTH)

Researchers at the University of Melbourne recently conducted a study that has revealed a new trend among patients in Australia. The study observed that more and more patients are choosing to go online on health forums to gather information and advice on their medical problems; even choosing to forgo visiting their their GP for advice.

The study involved analysing around 600 online posts that listed over a dozen medical conditions, ranging from conditions like common cold to even cancer. Dr. Reeva Lederman told the press, "Medical consumers are not just using the online community as an adjunct to conventional medical care, but many have moved their regular doctor out of the equation altogether."

The study also pointed out that most of the patients using such online health communities (OHC) listed various patients, openly discussing their personal medical conditions and self treatment procedures. Such forums have been labelled to be "high value but also high risk." Patients seeking information and advice solely through such online communities may face the danger of receiving incomplete or even incorrect information.

The growing cost of private healthcare is perhaps driving more and more sick Australians to find cheaper alternatives for medical advice and treatment. However, Lederman cautions patients by saying, "It is a basic principle of medical care that treatments need to individualised and small differences in patients can be very significant to outcomes. This is what is missing from OHCs."

Researchers conducting the study also noted that, patients generally gave importance to grammatical and vocabulary skills when deciding on which posts to trust. The posts displaying better literacy skills were more likely to be trusted by those seeking information and advice.

However, Lederman cautions such patients that most of these online forums generally do not provide advice from trained professionals; placing too much importance in the information or advice given, without first conferring with GP could lead to disastrous results.