AI Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to assess the quality of online information available to patients preparing for elective cervical spine surgery.
- Researchers analyzed the first 50 websites found for six specific cervical procedures using various quality and comprehensibility criteria.
- Results showed that the majority of websites provided poor or very poor information, indicating that the Internet can be a misleading source for medical guidance, highlighting the need for surgeons and professional societies to actively improve online resources.
Article Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the quality of information available on the Internet to patients with a cervical pathology undergoing elective cervical spine surgery.
Methods: Six key words ("cervical discectomy," "cervical foraminotomy," "cervical fusion," "cervical disc replacement," "cervical arthroplasty," "cervical artificial disc") were entered into two different search engines (Google, Yahoo!). For each key word, the first 50 websites were evaluated for accessibility, comprehensibility, and website quality using the DISCERN tool, transparency and honesty criteria, and an accuracy and exhaustivity scale.
Results: Of 5,098,500 evaluable websites, 600 were visited; 97 (16%) of these websites were evaluated for quality and comprehensiveness. Overall, 3% of sites obtained an excellent global quality score, 7% obtained a good score, 25% obtained an above average score, 15% obtained an average score, 37% obtained a poor score, and 13% obtained a very poor score. High-quality websites were affiliated with a professional society (P = 0.021), had bibliographical references (P = 0.030), and had a recent update within 6 months (r = 0.277, P < 0.001). No correlation between global quality score and other variables was observed.
Conclusions: This study shows that the search for medical information on the Internet is time-consuming and often disappointing. The Internet is a potentially misleading source of information. Surgeons and professional societies must use the Internet as an ally in providing optimal information to patients.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2012.11.003 | DOI Listing |
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