Available web-based dental implants information for patients. How good is it?
, , , , , . Available web-based dental implants information for patients. How good is it? Clin. Oral Impl. Res. 00, 2014, 1–5
Abstract
Background
Massive
use of the Internet for health issues has raised concerns about the
quality of the information available and about consumers' ability to
tell “good” from “bad” information.
Purpose
To
assess the quality of patient-addressed, dental implants-related
websites in terms of reliability, accessibility, usability and
readability.
Materials and Methods
Two
search engines (Google and Yahoo) were used in this study. The first
100 sites, as listed by each engine, were considered for the study. Each
site was categorised and analysed for quality using the DISCERN and the
LIDA instruments. The Flesch-Kinkaid Reading Grade Level (FKRGL) and
the Flesh Reading Ease Score (FRES) were used to assess legibility.
Results
After
applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 32 single websites
entered the study. The median score for the DISCERN instrument (3 [2–3])
indicated serious or potentially important shortcoming in the quality
of the information obtained. LIDA scores showed modest percentages for
accessibility (79.36 [74.60–85.31]) and intermediate for usability
(59.20 (50.46-68.51)) and reliability (55.55 [45.37–66.66]). Legibility
indices reached scores within the range of difficult to read
(FRES = 51.72 [38.70–55.27]); FKRGL = 12.76 [10.07–14.87]).
Conclusions
Available
e-health information on dental implants in English language is
difficult to read for the average patient and poor in terms of quality.
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