Online Information About Periviable Birth: Quality Assessment

Area of Science:

• Neonatal Medicine
• Medical Informatics
• Patient Information Quality

Background:

• Over 20,000 US parents annually face life support decisions for infants born near viability.
• Families need reliable information on prognosis and long-term morbidity for these complex choices.
• Existing empirical evidence on the quality of online health information for periviable birth is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the quality of online information regarding periviable birth and neonatal treatment options.
• To assess the reliability and comprehensiveness of websites used by parents seeking information on this topic.

Main Methods:

• Counseling scripts on periviable birth were presented to 20 pregnant participants.
• Participants provided search terms used to find information online.
• Two reviewers assessed 97 websites using the DISCERN instrument and Essential Content Tool (ECT).

Main Results:

• Only 7% of reviewed websites met high-quality standards using the DISCERN tool.
• The majority of sites lacked essential content related to periviable birth counseling.
• 18% of websites acknowledged multiple reasonable approaches to newborn care in periviable situations.

Conclusions:

• The majority of online information on periviable birth is of low quality and reliability.
• News stories often overrepresent positive outcomes, lacking balanced perspectives.
• Few websites adequately address comfort care or the impact of treatment decisions on quality of life.