Evaluation of metabolic syndrome related health information on internet in Indian context
Ashish Joshi1, Shruti Mehta, Kandarp Talati
1Center for Global Health and Development, Omaha, NE 68198-4355, USA. ashish.joshi@unmc.edu
Background:
Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) in India is a major contributor to the global increase in CVD. Lifestyle modification programs have been effective in reducing the burden of MetS.
Objective:
The Objective of our study was to evaluate the quality of MetS related health information on the internet in an Indian context.
Methodology:
We used a key term "metabolic syndrome" to retrieve websites from Google, Yahoo and Bing search engines by restricting pages from India during May 2012. Previously validated DISCERN tool was used by the three raters to assess 44 websites. All results have been reported as p-values.
Results:
The most common topics that were covered in these websites included causes and risk factors of MetS (77.27%). On the contrary medication (13.64%), lab tests (11.36%), type of physical activities (6.82%), prognosis and regular check-ups (4.55%) were the least mentioned topics. The website category .org had higher average DISCERN scores as compared to others categories.
Conclusion:
Limited information was available related to treatment choices, warning signal and informed decision and hence the need exists for further research to develop evidence based health information portal for MetS in an Indian context.
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