Journal article
The quality of online information on Legg-Calve-Perthes disease: can we do better?
Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery, v 143(11), pp 6569-6576
01 Nov 2023
PMID: 37415047
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Introduction
As patients increasingly utilize the Internet to obtain health-related information, the accuracy and usability of information prove critical, especially for patients and parents seeking care for relatively common orthopedic childhood disorders such as Legg-Calve-Perthes (LCP) disease. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate available online health information regarding LCP disease. The study specifically seeks to (1) examine the accessibility, usability, reliability, and readability of online information, (2) compare the quality of sites from different sources, and (3) determine whether Health on the Net Foundation Code (HON-code) certification guarantees higher quality of information.
Materials and methods
Websites from a query of both Google and Bing were compiled and scored using the Minervalidation tool (LIDA), an appraisal tool quantifying website quality, along with the Flesch-Kinkaid (FK) analysis, a metric assessing readability of content. All sites were organized based on source category [academic, private physician/physician group, governmental/non-profit organization (NPO), commercial, and unspecified] and HON-code certification.
Results
Physician-based and governmental/NPO sites had the highest accessibility, the unspecified site group were the most reliable and usable, and the physician-based group was found to require the least education to comprehend. Unspecified sites had a significantly higher rating of reliability than physician sites (p = 0.0164) and academic sites (p < 0.0001). HON-code-certified sites were found to have greater scores across quality domains along with being easier to read compared to sites without certification, with significantly higher reliability scoring (p < 0.0001).
Conclusions
As a whole, information on the Internet regarding LCP disease is of poor quality. However, our findings also encourage patients to utilize HON-code-certified websites due to their significantly higher reliability. Future studies should analyze methods of improving this publicly available information. Additionally, future analyses should examine methods for patients to better identify reliable websites, as well as the best mediums for optimized patient access and comprehension.
Metrics
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Details
- Title
- The quality of online information on Legg-Calve-Perthes disease: can we do better?
- Creators
- James A. Nassur - Children's Hospital of PhiladelphiaLinsen T. Samuel - Larkin Community HospitalAlexander J. Acuna - Rush Univ, Med Ctr, Dept Orthopaed Surg, 1620 West Harrison St, Chicago, IL 60612 USABridget Ellsworth - Children's Hospital of PhiladelphiaAtul F. Kamath - Larkin Community Hosp, Dept Orthopaed Surg, 7031 SW 62nd Ave, Miami, FL 33143 USA
- Publication Details
- Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery, v 143(11), pp 6569-6576
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 8
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Medicine
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001023387500001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85164163503
- Other Identifier
- 991021860617404721
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InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Orthopedics
- Surgery