Google Health Search Trial (GHST)
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03073746 |
Recruitment Status :
Completed
First Posted : March 8, 2017
Last Update Posted : April 16, 2019
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Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
---|---|---|
Diagnoses Disease | Other: Health Search Other: Standard Search | Not Applicable |
Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
Actual Enrollment : | 300 participants |
Allocation: | Randomized |
Intervention Model: | Parallel Assignment |
Intervention Model Description: | Participants presenting with new symptoms to either an urgent care center or emergency department will be randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to one of three groups. 1. Access to Health Search (i.e. Google's new health search platform for mobile devices; Health Knowledge Panels and Symptom Search Tool); 2. Access to Standard Search (i.e. prior version of Google search); 3. Usual Care. Groups 1 and 2 will use a tablet or mobile phone to search while group 3 will not. |
Masking: | Single (Care Provider) |
Masking Description: | Healthcare providers will not have knowledge of the interventions assigned to individual participants. |
Primary Purpose: | Other |
Official Title: | Accuracy of Differential Diagnosis From Google Health Search and Impact on Clinical Encounters |
Actual Study Start Date : | September 7, 2016 |
Actual Primary Completion Date : | August 9, 2017 |
Actual Study Completion Date : | August 15, 2017 |
Arm | Intervention/treatment |
---|---|
Experimental: Health Search
Access to Health Knowledge Panels and Symptom Search Tool.
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Other: Health Search |
Experimental: Standard Search
No access to Health Knowledge Panels and Symptom Search Tool, but access to prior version of Google search.
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Other: Standard Search |
No Intervention: No Search
No access to Health Knowledge Panels, Symptom Search Tool, prior version of Google search, or mobile device.
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- Accuracy of patient's pre-visit differential diagnosis after Google searching on a tablet or mobile phone. [ Time Frame: Assessing diagnostic accuracy from baseline to up to one hour post-clinical encounter. ]Proportion of patient's pre-visit differential diagnosis meeting the criteria of "match" with clinician post-visit differential diagnosis (i.e. Two of the three conditions on the clinician's differential diagnosis were more likely to be present in the patient's pre-visit assessment when a tablet or mobile phone was present).
- Accuracy of differential diagnosis of Health Search vs. Standard Search [ Time Frame: Assessing diagnostic accuracy from baseline to up to one hour post-clinical encounter. ]Proportion of patient's pre-visit differential diagnosis meeting the criteria of "match" with clinician post-visit differential diagnosis comparing Arm 1 (i.e. Health Search) vs. Arm 2 (i.e. Standard Search).
- Changes in anxiety on a visual analog scale [ Time Frame: Assessing a change in anxiety from baseline to up to one hour post clinical encounter. ]Comparing changes in anxiety (pre-clinical encounter vs. post-clinical encounter) among treatment arms. (Health Search vs. Standard Search).

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Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- Adult patient >= 18 years of age
- Presenting for care at urgent care or emergency department
- In search of a diagnosis to explain a new symptom or group of symptoms
Exclusion Criteria:
- Not literate, defined as lacking the ability to read and write (self-reported)
- Non-English Speaking (self-reported)
- Not mentally competent to provide consent due to inability to understand relevant information due to deficit in intelligence (e.g. mental retardation), memory (e.g., advanced dementia or significant delirium), or attention span (e.g., Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or mania) based on prior documentation in medical records or as judged by the researchers)
- Unable to use phone/tablet for any mental or physical impairment (e.g., blind) (self-reported)
- Exacerbation of chronic condition (self-reported)

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT03073746
United States, Maryland | |
Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center | |
Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21224 | |
Johns Hopkins Hospital | |
Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21287 |
Principal Investigator: | Seth S Martin, MD, MHS | Johns Hopkins School of Medicine |
Responsible Party: | Johns Hopkins University |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT03073746 |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
IRB00088552 |
First Posted: | March 8, 2017 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | April 16, 2019 |
Last Verified: | April 2019 |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: | No |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: | No |
Google Knowledge Panels Health Search Online Internet Smartphone Tablet |
Digital Mobile Symptoms Differential diagnosis Diagnosis Anxiety |
Disease Pathologic Processes |