Division of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Burton Street, Nottingham NG1 4BU, UK.
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2012 Jul 12;12:70. doi: 10.1186/1472-6947-12-70.
Tinnitus is a prevalent and complex medical complaint often co-morbid with stress, anxiety, insomnia, depression, and cognitive or communication difficulties. Its chronicity places a major burden on primary and secondary healthcare services. In our recent national survey of General Practitioners (GPs) from across England, many reported that their awareness of tinnitus was limited and as a result were dissatisfied with the service they currently provide. GPs identified 10 online sources of information they currently use in clinical practice, but welcomed further concise and accurate information on tinnitus assessment and management. The purpose of this study was to assess the content, reliability, and quality of the information related to primary care tinnitus assessment and management on these 10 websites.
Tinnitus related content on each website was assessed using a summative content analysis approach. Reliability and quality of the information was assessed using the DISCERN questionnaire.
Quality of information was rated using the validated DISCERN questionnaire. Significant inter-rater reliability was confirmed by Kendall's coefficient of concordance (Wt) which ranged from 0.48 to 0.92 across websites. The website Map of Medicine achieved the highest overall DISCERN score. However, for information on treatment choice, the British Tinnitus Association was rated best. Content analysis revealed that all websites lacked a number of details relating to either tinnitus assessment or management options.
No single website provides comprehensive information for GPs on tinnitus assessment and management and so GPs may need to refer to more than one if they want to maximise their coverage of the topic. From those preferred by GPs we recommend several specific websites as the current 'best' sources. Our findings should guide healthcare website providers to improve the quality and inclusiveness of the information they publish on tinnitus. In the case of one website, our preliminary findings are already doing so. Such developments will in turn help facilitate best practice in primary care.
耳鸣是一种普遍且复杂的医学主诉，常伴有压力、焦虑、失眠、抑郁以及认知或沟通困难。其长期性给初级和二级医疗保健服务带来了重大负担。在我们最近对英格兰各地全科医生（GP）的全国性调查中，许多人报告说他们对耳鸣的认识有限，因此对他们目前提供的服务感到不满。GP 确定了他们在临床实践中目前使用的 10 个在线信息来源，但欢迎进一步提供有关耳鸣评估和管理的简明准确信息。本研究的目的是评估这 10 个网站上与初级保健耳鸣评估和管理相关的信息的内容、可靠性和质量。
使用总结性内容分析方法评估每个网站上与耳鸣相关的内容。使用 DISCERN 问卷评估信息的可靠性和质量。
使用经过验证的 DISCERN 问卷评估信息质量。通过肯德尔协和系数（Wt）确认了显著的组内一致性，网站间的范围从 0.48 到 0.92。Map of Medicine 网站获得了最高的整体 DISCERN 评分。然而，在治疗选择信息方面，英国耳鸣协会的评分最高。内容分析显示，所有网站都缺乏与耳鸣评估或管理选项相关的一些细节。
没有一个网站为 GP 提供有关耳鸣评估和管理的综合信息，如果他们希望最大限度地涵盖该主题，那么 GP 可能需要参考多个网站。根据 GP 的偏好，我们推荐了几个特定的网站作为当前的“最佳”来源。我们的研究结果应指导医疗保健网站提供商提高他们发布的有关耳鸣的信息的质量和包容性。在一个网站的情况下，我们的初步发现已经在这样做了。这些发展反过来将有助于促进初级保健中的最佳实践。
