Quality of Information Regarding Abnormal Uterine Bleeding Available Online (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The Internet and electronic devices with Internet access allow for a greater fluidity of information and speed of communication, especially in the field of health. Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) affects approximately 3 - 30% of women and can negatively impact their health and quality of life. Information regarding AUB that is available on the Internet may not be clear or accurate, rendering it difficult to understand and likely to result in delayed medical evaluation, which subsequently leads to worsening of the AUB. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the quality of the information regarding AUB currently available on the Internet, including information regarding treatments. METHODS The Google Trends website was searched for the most widely used English terms related to AUB. The identified descriptors were searched individually on the Google, Yahoo!, and Bing search engines. The first 10 results of each search were pre-selected and evaluated for inclusion in this study. Selected websites were categorically divided into two groups (news/magazine and academic) and individually analyzed by three experts using the DISCERN quality criteria (reliability, general quality, and quality of information) and the presence or absence of the Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode®) seal. RESULTS Of the 168 websites included in this study, 60.1% were allocated to the news/magazine group and 39.9% were allocated to the academic group. Over half of the websites (54.2%) did not have the HONcode® quality seal. Websites in the academic group were more likely to include accurate information regarding AUB with greater reliability than websites in the news/magazine group. There were no statistical differences regarding the general quality of the websites. Most websites were rated as either moderate quality (70.8%) or low quality (28.6%). The HONcode® criterion was found to be a confounding factor of the analyses, as the grouping and quality results of websites without this seal were significantly associated. In addition, websites in the news/magazines group were 6.7 times more likely to provide low quality information than websites in the academic group (odds ratio: 6.7; 95% confidence interval: 2.1 - 21.4). CONCLUSIONS The information regarding AUB that is available on the Internet is of low to moderate quality. Academic websites present more reliable information of greater quality. The presence of the HONcode® seal is considered important to determine the quality of the content of a website, especially for news/magazine websites, and may help Internet users identify websites that contain more reliable information. Algorithms and applications that categorize the quality of information and the reliability of health content may be useful tools that can help patients clarify their symptoms for several conditions including AUB.

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Analysis of the Patient Information Quality and Readability on Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) on the Internet

Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology ◽

10.1155/2018/2849390 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

P. Priyanka ◽

Yousaf B. Hadi ◽

G. J. Reynolds

Keyword(s):

Grade Level ◽

Quality Analysis ◽

The Internet ◽

Quality Of Information ◽

Website Quality ◽

Link Type ◽

Moderate Quality ◽

The Mean ◽

11Th Grade

Objective. Patients are increasingly using the Internet to inform themselves of health-related topics and procedures, including EGD. We analyzed the quality of information and readability of websites after a search on 3 different search engines. Methods. We used an assessment tool for website quality analysis that we developed in addition to using validated instruments for website quality, Global Quality Score (GQS) and Health on Net (HON) certification. The readability was assessed using Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade level (FKG). 30 results of each search terms ‘EGD’ and ‘Upper Endoscopy’ from Google and 15 each from Bing and Yahoo were analyzed. A total of 45 websites were included from 100 URLs after removing duplicates, video links, and journal articles. Results. Only 3 websites were found to have good quality and comprehensive and authentic information. These websites were https://www.healthline.com, https://www.uptodate.com, and https://www.emedicine.medscape.com. There were additional 13 sites with moderate quality of information. The mean Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease (FRE) score was 46.92 (range 81.6-6.5). The mean Flesch-Kincaid Grade level (FKG) was 11th grade, with a range of 6th grade to 12th grade and above making them difficult to read. Conclusions. Our study shows that there are quite a few websites with moderate quality content. We recommend 3 comprehensive and authentic websites out of 45 URLs analyzed for information on Internet for EGD. In addition, the readability of the websites was consistently at a higher level than recommended by AMA at 11th grade level. In addition, we identified 3 websites with moderate quality content written at 8th grade and below readability level. We feel that gastroenterologists can help their patients better understand this procedure by directing them to these comprehensive websites.

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Which Resources Are Better: Sales or Scholarly? An Assessment on the Readability, Quality, and Technical Features of Online Chemical Peel Websites

Aesthetic Surgery Journal Open Forum ◽

10.1093/asjof/ojab008 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jeffrey Alex Varghese ◽

Anooj Patel ◽

Chitang Joshi ◽

Brendan Alleyne ◽

Robert Galiano

Keyword(s):

Medical Information ◽

Reliable Information ◽

The Internet ◽

Health Resource ◽

Quality Of Information ◽

Readability Score ◽

Flesch Reading Ease ◽

Chemical Peels ◽

Technical Features

Abstract Background Chemical peels are an exceedingly popular cosmetic treatment with a wide variety of suppliers, each with their own online health resource describing the procedure. With increasing reliance on the internet for medical information, it is crucial these resources provide reliable information for patients to make informed decisions. Objectives The aim of this study was to examine popular chemical peel resources and determine if those that offered chemical peel treatments (Sales) had lower readability, quality of information, and technical features compared to those that did not (Scholarly). Methods The term “chemical peel” was searched on July 2020 and the top 50 websites were retrieved for analysis. Each resource’s readability, quality, and technical features were measured through eight readability formulas, the DISCERN and Health on the Net Code (HONcode), and two website performance monitors. Results The 50 websites were analyzed with an average Fry readability score of 13th grade. Scholarly websites displayed higher readability than Sales (Flesch Reading Ease 54.4 > 47.4, P = 0.047 and Coleman-Liau Index 10.6 < 11.7, P = 0.04). Scholarly resources surpassed Sales both in quality (DISCERN 56.4 > 39.7, P < 0.001 and HONcode 11.8 > 9.5, P = 0.032) and technical features (WooRank 76.9 > 68.6, P = 0.0082). Conclusions The average readability of chemical peel resources is too difficult, and their quality must be improved. Scholarly resources exhibited higher readability, quality, and technical features than Sales websites.

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