Tsiang John T, Woo Benjamin K
Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
UCLA.
Cureus. 2017 Oct 28;9(10):e1808. doi: 10.7759/cureus.1808.
Introduction There is a deficit of avenues for obtaining dementia information in the Asian American community. This study aims to compare the content and quality differences between websites providing information on dementia as found by a Google search conducted both in simplified Chinese characters and in English. Methods A Google search was performed for the phrase "dementia" in simplified Chinese characters and in English. The resultant websites were categorized by whether they were commercial in nature, the type of website, and whether the website provided an explanation of dementia signs and symptoms. The quality of the websites was assessed via readability and the Health on the Net Code of Conduct (HONcode). Chi-squared analyses were performed to establish differences between the English and simplified Chinese results. Results The simplified Chinese search websites were more likely to be commercial (p=0.045) and were more likely to not meet HONcode standards (p=0.008). No statistical significance was observed between the types of websites (p=0.127), the prevalence of signs and symptom explanations (p=0.073), and the readability of the website (p=0.151). Conclusion The quality of websites obtained from the simplified Chinese character Google search was lower than those obtained from searches using the English language. Given the limited sources of language and culturally appropriate information on dementia, improvement of Internet resources may help to improve health outcomes of dementia patients in the Asian American population.
在美国亚裔社区，获取痴呆症信息的途径存在不足。本研究旨在比较通过谷歌搜索以简体中文和英文找到的提供痴呆症信息的网站之间的内容和质量差异。方法：用简体中文和英文在谷歌上搜索短语“痴呆症”。根据网站的商业性质、网站类型以及是否提供痴呆症体征和症状的解释对所得网站进行分类。通过可读性和《网络健康行为准则》（HONcode）评估网站质量。进行卡方分析以确定英文和简体中文搜索结果之间的差异。结果：简体中文搜索网站更有可能是商业性的（p = 0.045），并且更有可能不符合HONcode标准（p = 0.008）。在网站类型（p = 0.127）、体征和症状解释的 prevalence（p = 0.073）以及网站的可读性（p = 0.151）方面未观察到统计学显著性差异。结论：从简体中文谷歌搜索获得的网站质量低于用英文搜索获得的网站。鉴于关于痴呆症的语言和文化适宜信息来源有限，改善互联网资源可能有助于改善美国亚裔人群中痴呆症患者的健康状况。
