| Literature DB >> 32333571 |
Lilian Felipe1,2, Eldré W Beukes1,3, Baylie A Fox1, Vinaya Manchaiah1,4.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Internet has become a powerful, accessible resource for many patients to use for their own medical management and knowledge. Vestibular disorders are prevalent, especially in the elderly. As the Internet is increasingly a major source of health-related information to the general public, it is often used to search for information regarding dizziness and vertigo. Ensuring that the information is accessible, unbiased, and appropriate can aid informed decision-making.Entities:
Keywords: Vestibular disorders; health information zzm321990quality; health information readability; internet health information
Mesh:
Year: 2020 PMID: 32333571 PMCID: PMC9249283 DOI: 10.3233/VES-200698
Source DB: PubMed Journal: J Vestib Res ISSN: 0957-4271 Impact factor: 2.354
Website quality indicators according to the HON certification and DISCERN scores
| Number (%) | Mean (SD) | Significant association (or difference)* | |
| HON certification | |||
| Yes | 47 (42%) | – | |
| No | 65 (58%) | ||
| HON certification by origin | |||
| Commercial | 33 (49%) | – | |
| Non-profit organization | 7 (28%) | ||
| Government | 5 (28%) | ||
| Academic | 0 (0%) | ||
| DISCERN score | – | 2.52 (1.1) | – |
| DISCERN score by origin | |||
| Commercial | – | 2.44 (0.9) | |
| Non-profit organization | 2.76 (1.2) | ||
| Government | 2.44 (1.1) | ||
| Academic | 3.0 |
*Differences calculated between commercial, non-profit and government websites.
Overall mean and standard deviations for the items of the DISCERN quality criteria for the 112 included websites
|
| |
| Are the aims clear? | 3.86 (1.0) |
| Does it achieve its aims? | 3.58 (1.1) |
| Is it relevant? | 3.35 (1.1) |
| Is it clear what sources of information were used to compile the publication (other than the author or procedure)? | 2.42 (1.5) |
| Is it clear when the information is used or reported in the publication was reported? | 1.87 (1.2) |
| Is it balanced and unbiased? | 2.76 (1.1) |
| Does it provide details of additional sources of support and information? | 2.08 (1.2) |
| Does it refer to areas of uncertainty? | 1.72 (0.9) |
| Does it describe how each treatment works? | 2.17 (1.3) |
| Does it describe the benefit of each treatment? | 1.93 (1.2) |
| Does it describe the risk of each treatment? | 1.72 (1.0) |
| Does it describe what would happen if no treatment is used? | 1.97 (1.3) |
| Does it describe how the treatment choices affect overall quality of life? | 1.70 (1.0) |
| Is it clear that there may be more than one treatment choice? | 2.61 (1.7) |
| Does it provide support for shared decision-making? | 2.45 (1.3) |
| Based on the answers to all the above questions, rate the overall quality of the publication as a source of information about treatment choices. | 2.52 (1.1) |
Readability scores for website based on the origin and average grade levels
| Readability measure | Websites by Origin Mean (Standard deviation) Range | Differences between websites based on origin | Grade Level | |||||
| All websites | Commercial | Non-profit | Governmental | ANOVA results | Exceeds 5th to 6th grade (recommendation) | Exceeds 7th to 8th grade (U.S. adult average) | ||
| Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) Score | 49.25 (12.0) 18–100 | 49.23 (10.7) 18–77 | 42.68 (9.7) 28–61 | 57.5 (14.4) 31–100 | Commercial vs non-profit | 99% | 90% | |
| Flesch Kincaid Reading Grade Level (F-K RGL) Formula | 9.67 (2.7) 4.7–19 | 9.39 (2.3) 5.2–16.4 | 10.89 (2.7) 6.8–16.3 | 9.21 (2.3) 4.7–19 | Commercial vs non-profit | 98% | 80% | |
| Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG Score) | 11.1 (1.9) 7.7–16.5 | 11.15 (1.8) 8.3–16.5 | 11.41 (1.9) 8.9–15.2 | 10.62 (2.0) 7.7–15.9 | N/A | 100% | 99% | |