Department of Paediatric Orthopaedics, Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin 12, Ireland.
Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2012 Oct 1;37(21):E1364-9. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e31826619b5.
A quality-control Internet-based study using recognized quality scoring systems.
To evaluate the quality of information available on the Internet.
The quality of information available is of poor quality and unreliable, and this study was to determine if it has improved in line with the exponential increase in Internet-based information since the last time it was reviewed in 2005.
To identify potential Web sites, the 5 most commonly accessed search engines were identified and a search for "scoliosis" was performed on each. The top 100 Web sites were reviewed. Each Web site was categorized according to its authorship and assessed using recognized scoring systems (Journal of American Medical Association [JAMA] and DISCERN criteria, scoliosis-specific content quality). The presence of the Health on the Net code, a reported quality-assurance marker, was noted.
Forty-one unique Web sites were identified and analyzed. Five were academic, 11 were produced by physicians, 5 were commercial, 3 were nonphysician sites, 6 were attached to discussion groups or social media sites, 3 were media related, and 8 were not otherwise classifiable. There were significant differences noted between the authorship categories on the DISCERN score, JAMA benchmark criteria, and scoliosis-specific content quality score, (P = 0.001, <0.0001, and 0.009, respectively) with academic- and physician-related Web sites containing better-quality information. Internet sites with a Health on the Net code demonstrated higher-quality scoliosis-specific information than those without the code (P = 0.1368).
The overall quality of information regarding scoliosis remains poor despite an exponential increase in the number of sites available. Patients need to be educated about appropriate Internet use-academic- and physician-provided sites have been shown to contain better-quality information. We have a potential role as clinicians to not only direct patients to appropriate sites but also to help in developing content on the Internet.
一项基于互联网的质量控制研究，使用公认的质量评分系统。
评估互联网上信息的质量。
可获得的信息质量较差且不可靠，本研究旨在确定自 2005 年最后一次审查以来，随着基于互联网的信息量呈指数级增长，其质量是否有所提高。
为了确定潜在的网站，确定了 5 个最常访问的搜索引擎，并在每个搜索引擎上搜索“脊柱侧凸”。审查了前 100 个网站。根据作者身份对每个网站进行分类，并使用公认的评分系统（美国医学会杂志[JAMA]和 DISCERN 标准、脊柱侧凸特定内容质量）进行评估。注意到健康网络代码的存在，这是一个报告的质量保证标志。
确定并分析了 41 个独特的网站。其中 5 个是学术网站，11 个是由医生制作的，5 个是商业网站，3 个是非医生网站，6 个是附属于讨论组或社交媒体网站，3 个是与媒体相关的网站，8 个不属于其他类别。在 DISCERN 评分、JAMA 基准标准和脊柱侧凸特定内容质量评分方面，作者类别之间存在显著差异（P = 0.001、<0.0001 和 0.009），学术和医生相关网站包含更好的信息质量。具有健康网络代码的互联网网站提供的脊柱侧凸特定信息质量高于没有代码的网站（P = 0.1368）。
尽管可获得的网站数量呈指数级增长，但有关脊柱侧凸的信息整体质量仍然较差。需要对患者进行适当使用互联网的教育-学术和医生提供的网站已被证明包含更好的信息。我们作为临床医生有潜力不仅指导患者访问适当的网站，还可以帮助开发互联网上的内容。
