Abstract
BackgroundOnline health information, if evidence-based and unbiased, can improve patients’ and caregivers’ health knowledge and assist them in disease management and health care decision-making.ObjectiveTo identify standards for the development of health information resources on the internet for patients.MethodsWe searched in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for publications describing evaluation instruments for websites providing health information. Eligible instruments were identified by three independent reviewers and disagreements resolved by consensus. Items reported were extracted and categorized into seven domains (accuracy, completeness and comprehensiveness, technical elements, design and aesthetics, usability, accessibility, and readability) that were previously thought to be a minimum requirement for websites.ResultsOne hundred eleven articles met inclusion criteria, reporting 92 evaluation instruments (1609 items). We found 74 unique items that we grouped into the seven domains. For the accuracy domain, one item evaluated information provided in concordance with current guidelines. For completeness and comprehensiveness, 18 items described the disease with respect to various topics such as etiology or therapy, among others. For technical elements, 27 items evaluated disclosure of authorship, sponsorship, affiliation, editorial process, feedback process, privacy, and data protection. For design and aesthetics, 10 items evaluated consistent layout and relevant graphics and images. For usability, 10 items evaluated ease of navigation and functionality of internal search engines. For accessibility, five items evaluated the availability of websites to people with audiovisual disabilities. For readability, three items evaluated conversational writing style and use of a readability tool to determine the reading level of the text.ConclusionWe identified standards for the development of online patient health information. This proposed instrument can serve as a guideline to develop and improve how health information is presented on the internet.
Highlights
The internet has become the new “first aid,” often the first place for patients to get health information given its ease of access
We searched in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for publications describing evaluation instruments for websites providing health information
We identified standards for the development of online patient health information
Summary
The internet has become the new “first aid,” often the first place for patients to get health information given its ease of access. Patients browse the internet for health information before consulting with a physician [4] and expect doctors to recommend useful resources and supplementary quality information services [5]. Health information provided on the internet cannot replace the advice of a health care professional, it can serve as a readily available source of information, which, if evidence-based and unbiased, can improve patients’ knowledge [6, 7]. Websites providing health information for patients should follow high quality standards and be comprehensible. The authors identified seven domains that were thought to be a minimum requirement: (i) accuracy, (ii) completeness and comprehensiveness, (iii) technical elements, (iv) readability, (v) design and aesthetics, (vi) accessibility, and (vii) usability. If evidence-based and unbiased, can improve patients’ and caregivers’ health knowledge and assist them in disease management and health care decisionmaking
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