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Quality of web based information on treatment of depression: cross sectional survey.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To evaluate quality of web based information on treatment of depression, to identify potential indicators of content quality, and to establish if accountability criteria are indicators of quality. DESIGN:Cross sectional survey. DATA SOURCES:21 frequently accessed websites about depression. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:(i) Site characteristics; (ii) quality of content-concordance with evidence based depression guidelines (guideline score), appropriateness of other relevant site information (issues score), and subjective rating of site quality (global score); and (iii) accountability-conformity with core accountability standards (Silberg score) and quality of evidence cited in support of conclusions (level of evidence score). RESULTS:Although the sites contained useful information, their overall quality was poor: the mean guideline, issues, and global scores were only 4.7 (range 0-13) out of 43, 9.8 (6-14) out of 17, and 3 (0.5-7. 5) out of 10 respectively. Sites typically did not cite scientific evidence in support of their conclusions. The guideline score correlated with the two other quality of content measures, but none of the content measures correlated with the Silberg accountability score. Content quality was superior for sites owned by organisations and sites with an editorial board. CONCLUSIONS:There is a need for better evidence based information about depression on the web, and a need to reconsider the role of accountability criteria as indicators of site quality and to develop simple valid indicators of quality. Ownership by an organisation and the involvement of a professional editorial board may be useful indicators. The study methodology may be useful for exploring these issues in other health related subjects.

SUBMITTER: Griffiths KM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC27555 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Quality of web based information on treatment of depression: cross sectional survey.

Griffiths K M KM Christensen H H

BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 20001201 7275

<h4>Objectives</h4>To evaluate quality of web based information on treatment of depression, to identify potential indicators of content quality, and to establish if accountability criteria are indicators of quality.<h4>Design</h4>Cross sectional survey.<h4>Data sources</h4>21 frequently accessed websites about depression.<h4>Main outcome measures</h4>(i) Site characteristics; (ii) quality of content-concordance with evidence based depression guidelines (guideline score), appropriateness of other ...[more]

PMID: 11118181

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Project description:BackgroundOwing to the revolution in technology, the internet has become an important aspect of people's lives. Modern technology is enabling people from diverse educational backgrounds to use the internet for several purposes, one of which is health information seeking. Recently, Web-based health information has become more popular among patients all over the world and among the general public.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the use of Web-based health resources among undergraduate students from different faculties at Kuwait University.MethodsThe study employed a cross-sectional design with students selected from 8 faculties of Kuwait University, 4 faculties of Literature and 4 faculties of Science. Data were collected using structured questionnaires, and analysis was done using a chi-square test and binary logistic regression to determine the factors associated with seeking health information on the Web.ResultsThe sample size obtained was 1132 with a response rate of 90.27% (1132/1254). Overall, the prevalence of students seeking Web-based health information was 92.66%. (1049/1132) The most significant factors associated with seeking health information on the Web were age, gender, faculty, year of study, primary source of internet, and level of experience with internet use. In total, 90.0% (325/361) of students who were aged older than 21 years used Web-based health information compared with 82.8% (275/332) of those who were aged 18 years. In addition, female students showed a higher prevalence (829/934, 88.8%) of Web-based health information seeking than males (210/270, 77.8%). Students who majored in faculties of Science were more likely to seek health information than those who majored in faculties of Literature. All the differences found in the study were statistically significant (P<.05).ConclusionsThe study concluded that many people use the internet for seeking health information. Sociodemographic factors have a significant association with Web-based health information seeking. Therefore, doctors must educate the public about the health information websites that can be trusted.

Project description:BackgroundThe ever-growing amount of health information available on the web is increasing the demand for tools providing personalized and actionable health information. Such tools include symptom checkers that provide users with a potential diagnosis after responding to a set of probes about their symptoms. Although the potential for their utility is great, little is known about such tools' actual use and effects.ObjectiveWe aimed to understand who uses a web-based artificial intelligence-powered symptom checker and its purposes, how they evaluate the experience of the web-based interview and quality of the information, what they intend to do with the recommendation, and predictors of future use.MethodsCross-sectional survey of web-based health information seekers following the completion of a symptom checker visit (N=2437). Measures of comprehensibility, confidence, usefulness, health-related anxiety, empowerment, and intention to use in the future were assessed. ANOVAs and the Wilcoxon rank sum test examined mean outcome differences in racial, ethnic, and sex groups. The relationship between perceptions of the symptom checker and intention to follow recommended actions was assessed using multilevel logistic regression.ResultsBuoy users were well-educated (1384/1704, 81.22% college or higher), primarily White (1227/1693, 72.47%), and female (2069/2437, 84.89%). Most had insurance (1449/1630, 88.89%), a regular health care provider (1307/1709, 76.48%), and reported good health (1000/1703, 58.72%). Three types of symptoms-pain (855/2437, 35.08%), gynecological issues (293/2437, 12.02%), and masses or lumps (204/2437, 8.37%)-accounted for almost half (1352/2437, 55.48%) of site visits. Buoy's top three primary recommendations split across less-serious triage categories: primary care physician in 2 weeks (754/2141, 35.22%), self-treatment (452/2141, 21.11%), and primary care in 1 to 2 days (373/2141, 17.42%). Common diagnoses were musculoskeletal (303/2437, 12.43%), gynecological (304/2437, 12.47%) and skin conditions (297/2437, 12.19%), and infectious diseases (300/2437, 12.31%). Users generally reported high confidence in Buoy, found it useful and easy to understand, and said that Buoy made them feel less anxious and more empowered to seek medical help. Users for whom Buoy recommended "Waiting/Watching" or "Self-Treatment" had strongest intentions to comply, whereas those advised to seek primary care had weaker intentions. Compared with White users, Latino and Black users had significantly more confidence in Buoy (P<.05), and the former also found it significantly more useful (P<.05). Latino (odds ratio 1.96, 95% CI 1.22-3.25) and Black (odds ratio 2.37, 95% CI 1.57-3.66) users also had stronger intentions to discuss recommendations with a provider than White users.ConclusionsResults demonstrate the potential utility of a web-based health information tool to empower people to seek care and reduce health-related anxiety. However, despite encouraging results suggesting the tool may fulfill unmet health information needs among women and Black and Latino adults, analyses of the user base illustrate persistent second-level digital divide effects.

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Project description:BackgroundDigital communication technologies are playing an important role in the health communication strategies of governments and public health authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The internet and social media have become important sources of health-related information on COVID-19 and on protective behaviors. In addition, the COVID-19 infodemic is spreading faster than the coronavirus itself, which interferes with governmental health-related communication efforts. This jeopardizes national public health containment strategies. Therefore, digital health literacy is a key competence to navigate web-based COVID-19-related information and service environments.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate university students' digital health literacy and web-based information-seeking behaviors during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.MethodsA cross-sectional study among 14,916 university students aged ≥18 years from 130 universities across all 16 federal states of Germany was conducted using a web-based survey. Along with sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, subjective social status), the measures included five subscales from the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI), which was adapted to the specific context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Web-based information-seeking behavior was investigated by examining the web-based sources used by university students and the topics that the students searched for in connection with COVID-19. Data were analyzed using univariate and bivariate analyses.ResultsAcross digital health literacy dimensions, the greatest difficulties could be found for assessing the reliability of health-related information (5964/14,103, 42.3%) and the ability to determine whether the information was written with a commercial interest (5489/14,097, 38.9%). Moreover, the respondents indicated that they most frequently have problems finding the information they are looking for (4282/14,098, 30.4%). When stratified according to sociodemographic characteristics, significant differences were found, with female university students reporting a lower DHLI for the dimensions of "information searching" and "evaluating reliability." Search engines, news portals, and websites of public bodies were most often used by the respondents as sources to search for information on COVID-19 and related issues. Female students were found to use social media and health portals more frequently, while male students used Wikipedia and other web-based encyclopedias as well as YouTube more often. The use of social media was associated with a low ability to critically evaluate information, while the opposite was observed for the use of public websites.ConclusionsAlthough digital health literacy is well developed in university students, a significant proportion of students still face difficulties with certain abilities to evaluate information. There is a need to strengthen the digital health literacy capacities of university students using tailored interventions. Improving the quality of health-related information on the internet is also key.

Dataset Information

Quality of web based information on treatment of depression: cross sectional survey.

Publications

Quality of web based information on treatment of depression: cross sectional survey.

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