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Patient information about general anaesthesia on the internet
1Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Helsinki University Hospital, 00029 Helsinki, Finland. minna.tallgren@hus.fi
Online searches for general anesthesia patient information yield varied results. While some high-quality health websites exist, few meet recommended readability standards for consumers.
Area of Science:
- Medical Informatics
- Health Communication
- Web Science
Background:
- The internet is a primary source for health information.
- Patient understanding of medical procedures is crucial for informed consent and adherence.
- Assessing the quality and accessibility of online health information is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the quality and accessibility of patient information on general anesthesia available online.
- To compare search results across different languages and search terms.
- To assess the readability and long-term availability of high-quality online health resources.
Main Methods:
- Searched Google for patient information on general anesthesia using four synonyms in four languages (English UK, English US, Swedish, Finnish).
- Analyzed the top 20 results for relevance and quality using the DISCERN rating system.
- Assessed the reading grade level of 'good' quality websites.
- Monitored the persistence of high-quality sites in search results over three months.
Main Results:
- Only 32% of 320 search results contained relevant information, with English searches yielding the highest proportion (45-49%).
- High-quality 'good' websites (DISCERN 4-5 stars) were found across all languages, but were more prevalent in English searches (12 UK, 11 US).
- Few high-quality websites met the recommended reading grade level of 8 or below.
- 82% of identified 'good' quality websites remained within the top 20 search results after three months.
Conclusions:
- Online patient information on general anesthesia varies significantly in quality and relevance.
- While good resources exist, their accessibility is limited by search result relevance and readability.
- Further efforts are needed to improve the quality and accessibility of online health information for patients undergoing general anesthesia.
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