ChaCha: Nothing to Dance about When it Comes to Health

Background: A relatively new mobile text message service, ChaCha, describes itself as “a smart search engine powered by human intelligence”. The service claims to provide only high-quality, accurate information, yet there is no research published to date substantiating this claim. Purpose: To assess the extent to which health and wellness-related information disseminated by ChaCha is accurate and complete. Methods: The study consisted of texting 40 pre-determined health-related questions to ChaCha, compiling answers, and analyzing answers and websites referred for accuracy and completeness. For each of the nationally recognized 10 content areas of health, the researchers developed 40 questions. The questions were texted to ChaCha by the researchers over a period of one week. Each question was asked twice verbatim, for a total of 80 text questions to ChaCha. Accuracy was determined by comparing ChaCha responses to three of the most well-known and popular college health textbooks. The level of accuracy of responses was scored using a Likert scale ranging from 1-inaccurate and incomplete to 5-completely accurate and complete. Websites referred by ChaCha were analyzed in the same manner. Results: Results indicate only 12.5% of ChaCha responses were rated accurate and complete, while 22.5 % of ChaCha's responses rated completely inaccurate/incomplete. The mean score given was 2.88 (partially accurate). Given the maximum 160 character text message allowance, ChaCha had either not given enough information to accurately answer the question or had given incorrect information that they received from an unreliable source. Only 6% of ChaCha responses came with a website referral. The mean score yielded a higher, more accurate result than text alone however, it was not remarkable. This suggests consumers will obtain a more detailed answer through the website referrals. Conclusion: In summary, while ChaCha provides a fast, efficient method to find answers, the accuracy and completeness of the answers is questionable and not consistent with evidence-based research. The findings are consistent with previous research questioning the accuracy and quality of health information on the Internet. Translation to Health Education Practice: Health educators can use the results of this study to alert the public that ChaCha is not a reliable source for health and wellness-related information.