Quality and readability of online information on myofascial pain syndrome

The reliability of the information on the Internet, which people use as an easy and practical solution about diseases, is essential for public health. Our aim in this study is to evaluate the quality and readability of websites related to myofascial pain syndrome.

On April 4, 2020, websites were searched on the Google search engine using the term "myofascial pain syndrome". The typologies, quality, readability, and content parameters of the sites were analyzed. Websites were divided into eight categories according to typology. To evaluate the quality, we evaluated the websites according to the JAMA scoring system or a HONcode certificate existence. Flesch-Kincaid grade and the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook was used to evaluate readability. Content analysis was performed for etiology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.

56 of the 151 websites evaluated were classified as high-quality websites. It was determined that the quality scores of scientific publications and professional websites were high. Comparing the readability parameters of the websites in terms of quality, there was no significant difference between high-quality websites and low-quality websites (p = 0.391 and 0.746 respectively). The content was focused on etiology on scientific websites, while on commercial and professional websites, the content was focused on treatment.

High-quality websites did not offer an advantage in readability parameters. These results show that online information about MPS should be questioned and more extensive studies are required.