Hip Preservation Center, Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Rush Medical College of Rush University, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Hip Preservation Center, Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Rush Medical College of Rush University, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A..
Arthroscopy. 2014 Oct;30(10):1372-9. doi: 10.1016/j.arthro.2014.04.102. Epub 2014 Jul 3.
The Internet has become a ubiquitous source of medical information for both the patient and the physician. However, the quality of this information is highly variable. We evaluated the quality of Internet information available for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI).
Four popular search engines were used to collect 100 Web sites containing information on FAI. Web sites were evaluated based on authorship, various content criteria, and the presence of Health On the Net Code of Conduct (HONcode) certification. By use of a novel evaluation system for quality, Web sites were also classified as excellent, high, moderate, poor, or inadequate and were subsequently analyzed. Web sites were evaluated as a group, followed by authorship type, by HONcode certification, and by quality level.
Of the Web sites, 73 offered the ability to contact the author, 91 offered a considerable explanation of FAI, 54 provided surgical treatment options, 58 offered nonsurgical treatment options, 27 discussed possible complications, 11 discussed eligibility criteria, 31 discussed rehabilitation, 67 discussed a differential diagnosis, and 48 included peer-reviewed citations. We categorized 40 Web sites as academic, 33 as private, 9 as industry, 9 as public education, and 9 as blogs. Our novel quality evaluation system classified 16 Web sites as excellent, 18 as high, 17 as moderate, 18 as poor, and 31 as inadequate. Only 8% of all evaluated Web sites contained HONcode certification.
We found that the quality of information available on the Internet about FAI was dramatically variable. A significantly large proportion of Web sites were from academic sources, but this did not necessarily indicate higher quality. Sites with HONcode certification showed as much variability in quality as noncertified sites.
This study increases clinician competence in the available Internet information about FAI and helps them to confidently guide patients to formulate appropriate medical decisions based on high-quality information.
互联网已成为患者和医生获取医学信息的普遍来源。然而，这些信息的质量差异很大。我们评估了互联网上有关股骨髋臼撞击症（FAI）的信息质量。
使用四个流行的搜索引擎收集了 100 个包含 FAI 信息的网站。根据作者、各种内容标准以及是否符合健康网络准则（HONcode）认证，对网站进行评估。通过使用一种新颖的质量评估系统，网站也被分类为优秀、高、中、差或不足，并随后进行了分析。首先对网站进行整体评估，然后按作者类型、HONcode 认证和质量水平进行评估。
在这些网站中，73 个网站提供了联系作者的能力，91 个网站对 FAI 进行了相当详细的解释，54 个网站提供了手术治疗选择，58 个网站提供了非手术治疗选择，27 个网站讨论了可能的并发症，11 个网站讨论了入选标准，31 个网站讨论了康复，67 个网站讨论了鉴别诊断，48 个网站包含同行评审的引用。我们将 40 个网站归类为学术性，33 个为私营，9 个为行业，9 个为公共教育，9 个为博客。我们新颖的质量评估系统将 16 个网站评为优秀，18 个评为高，17 个评为中，18 个评为差，31 个评为不足。只有 8%的评估网站包含 HONcode 认证。
我们发现，互联网上关于 FAI 的信息质量差异很大。很大一部分网站来自学术来源，但这并不一定表示质量更高。获得 HONcode 认证的网站在质量上与未获得认证的网站一样存在差异。
本研究提高了临床医生对 FAI 相关互联网信息的掌握程度，并帮助他们根据高质量的信息，自信地指导患者做出适当的医疗决策。
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