We studied a web-based triage system which was accessible to the general public in the Netherlands. In a retrospective analysis we investigated the type of complaints that were submitted and the kind of advice provided. Over a period of 15 months, 13,133 different people began using the web-based triage system and 3812 patients went right through the triage process to the end. The most frequent complaints were common cold symptoms, such as cough and a sore throat (22%), itch problems (13%), urinary complaints (12%), diarrhoea (10%), headache (8%) and lower back pain (8%). Most commonly, the system generated the advice to contact a doctor (85%) and in 15% of the cases the system provided fully automated, problem-tailored, self-care advice. A total of 192 patients participated in a prospecti…