Indian endocrine surgery websites are they comparable?

INTRODUCTION

In modern day surgical practice, patients and their relatives garner more knowledge through websites rather than direct interaction with the consultant physician. We aimed to assess whether Indian endocrine surgery websites matched with their counterparts abroad.

MATERIALS & METHODS: We identified 60 endocrine surgery websites worldwide and 12 endocrine surgery websites maintained by trained endocrine surgeons from India. The website parameters, demographic data of the websites, rank, and other parameters were assessed using a professional website (www.Alexa.com). An endocrine surgeon along with a technical website advisor rated the content, presentation, and likes from a scale of 1-5 (1 minimum score and 5 maximum score).

RESULTS

A total of 72 individual endocrine surgery websites, out of which 60 were from abroad and 12 were from India, were analyzed. A majority of foreign websites were ranked (43/60), whereas 2/12 Indian websites were ranked (P < 0.0001). Foreign websites had a better landscape profile. Except for pancreatic facts, which were significantly different (P = 0.006) between Indian and foreign websites, there was no significant difference in thyroid facts, parathyroid facts, adrenal facts, photographs, videos, postop advice, contact information, publications, and complications.

CONCLUSION

Most parameters were comparable in both groups. Postoperative advice and complications were present in only a few websites. A well-designed endocrine surgery website can aid both the patient and the treating physician.