Evaluating the Quality and Reliability of Online Information on Social Fertility Preservation

With the rising trend of postponing motherhood, there has been an increasing rate of infertility. Social fertility preservation offers the potential to overcome this age-related infertility, and many women are turning to the Internet to seek medical information. The aim of this study was to evaluate online information on social fertility preservation.

This study used five search terms-"egg freezing," "fertility preservation," "social egg freezing," "social fertility preservation," and "oocyte cryopreservation"-to identify the most popular sites as rated by Google. Accuracy of information and quality of websites were rated on the basis of four categories: Silberg's accountability criteria, Abbott's aesthetic criteria, Flesch-Kincaid readability score, and the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS) and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) recommendations (Canadian Task Force classification III).

Study investigators identified the 21 most used websites. The average Silberg score was 6.57, with 85.7% of websites meeting the criteria for adequate accountability. Only one website (4.8%) did not meet the criteria for appropriate aesthetic appeal. The average Flesch-Kincaid readability score was 11.39, equivalent to a grade 11 reading level, which is significantly higher than the reading level of the general population. A total of 57% of websites contained less than half of the evidence-based recommendations provided in CFAS and SOGC recommendations.

Online information on social fertility preservation is easily accessible and aesthetically pleasing, but information is not easily readable and does not reflect evidence-based recommendations. Hence, health care professionals must fill the knowledge gaps and adequately counsel their patients to optimize a woman's chance at a successful pregnancy.