BACKGROUND: The Internet is increasingly used as a source of health information by patients. Under these circumstances, the opportunity exists for Internet sites ostensibly providing patient information to act to promote surgical referrals based on exaggerated claims. This study aims to assess quantitatively and qualitatively the Internet-based consumer health information for minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) techniques. METHODS: This is a prospective analysis of Internet web sites. Descriptive information about specific published claims on each of the web sites was documented and compared to the published evidence base. Web sites were then rated using a validated composite score (CS) tool and an MIP score tool developed specifically for the study. RESULTS: The search yielded 308 web sites, which, after assessment by the inclusion criteria left 44 unique web sites suitable for analysis. "Exaggerated," "misleading," or "false" claims were present in 27.3% of the web sites analyzed. The false claims category had a high negative item-total correlation with the overall score, and accuracy was found to have a statistically significant (p < 0.05) negative correlation with quality. However, analysis performed for country of origin and the organization responsible for the web site found no significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: Web sites offering information in relation to MIP have a surprisingly high rate of claims that are not in accord with the evidence. Such claims may be posted to attract surgical referrals. It is difficult for consumers to differentiate quality consumer health web sites from poor ones as there are no hard and fast rules to differentiate them.
BACKGROUND: The Internet is increasingly used as a source of health information by patients. Under these circumstances, the opportunity exists for Internet sites ostensibly providing patient information to act to promote surgical referrals based on exaggerated claims. This study aims to assess quantitatively and qualitatively the Internet-based consumer health information for minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) techniques. METHODS: This is a prospective analysis of Internet web sites. Descriptive information about specific published claims on each of the web sites was documented and compared to the published evidence base. Web sites were then rated using a validated composite score (CS) tool and an MIP score tool developed specifically for the study. RESULTS: The search yielded 308 web sites, which, after assessment by the inclusion criteria left 44 unique web sites suitable for analysis. "Exaggerated," "misleading," or "false" claims were present in 27.3% of the web sites analyzed. The false claims category had a high negative item-total correlation with the overall score, and accuracy was found to have a statistically significant (p < 0.05) negative correlation with quality. However, analysis performed for country of origin and the organization responsible for the web site found no significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: Web sites offering information in relation to MIP have a surprisingly high rate of claims that are not in accord with the evidence. Such claims may be posted to attract surgical referrals. It is difficult for consumers to differentiate quality consumer health web sites from poor ones as there are no hard and fast rules to differentiate them.
Authors: G K Berland; M N Elliott; L S Morales; J I Algazy; R L Kravitz; M S Broder; D E Kanouse; J A Muñoz; J A Puyol; M Lara; K E Watkins; H Yang; E A McGlynn Journal: JAMA Date: 2001 May 23-30 Impact factor: 56.272
Authors: Bradford W Hesse; David E Nelson; Gary L Kreps; Robert T Croyle; Neeraj K Arora; Barbara K Rimer; Kasisomayajula Viswanath Journal: Arch Intern Med Date: 2005 Dec 12-26
Authors: Vnssvams Mahalakshmi D; Mayilvaganan Sabaretnam; Dabeer Warsi; P R K Bhargav; Aromal Chekavar; Amit Agarwal Journal: Ann Med Surg (Lond) Date: 2020-11-18
Authors: Julie M Robillard; Judy Illes; Marcel Arcand; B Lynn Beattie; Sherri Hayden; Peter Lawrence; Joanna McGrenere; Peter B Reiner; Dana Wittenberg; Claudia Jacova Journal: Alzheimers Dement (Amst) Date: 2015-07-02