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The quality of patient‐orientated Internet information on oral lichen planus: a pilot study
Author(s) -
LópezJornet Pía,
CamachoAlonso Fabio
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2009.01206.x
Subject(s) - the internet , medicine , web page , world wide web , quality (philosophy) , web site , search engine , search engine optimization , health information , information retrieval , computer science , health care , philosophy , epistemology , economics , economic growth
Objective This study examines the accessibility and quality Web pages related with oral lichen planus. Methods Sites were identified using two search engines (Google and Yahoo!) and the search terms ‘oral lichen planus’ and ‘oral lesion lichenoid’. The first 100 sites in each search were visited and classified. The web sites were evaluated for content quality by using the validated DISCERN rating instrument. JAMA benchmarks and ‘Health on the Net’ seal (HON). Results A total of 109 000 sites were recorded in Google using the search terms and 520 000 in Yahoo! A total of 19 Web pages considered relevant were examined on Google and 20 on Yahoo! As regards the JAMA benchmarks, only two pages satisfied the four criteria in Google (10%), and only three (15%) in Yahoo! As regards DISCERN, the overall quality of web site information was poor, no site reaching the maximum score. In Google 78.94% of sites had important deficiencies, and 50% in Yahoo!, the difference between the two search engines being statistically significant ( P = 0.031). Only five pages (17.2%) on Google and eight (40%) on Yahoo! showed the HON code. Conclusion Based on our review, doctors must assume primary responsibility for educating and counselling their patients.