Evaluation of the quality of the general health information webpages in Spain: influence of page source

Abstract

The Internet, regardless of whether or not it is reliable, is considered the main source of health information. However, the lay-user does not know which sources offer good quality information. The main objective of the present study, therefore, was to evaluate the quality of Spanish health-related webpages, and to determine whether the webpage source influences this quality. To this end, 36 webpages were selected through the PageRank® system. The webpages from all the Regional Health Services of Spain (19 sites) were also included. The quality evaluation, which was carried out by applying the Andalusian Health Quality Agency Test, indicated that the quality information offered by Spanish webpages is very low, since no site reached the maximum score. In addition, several important aspects, including those related with personal data management and the updating of information, were not considered by most of the evaluated pages. In summary, this work shows that quality of the health information webpages in Spain is generally low, and draws particular attention to certain responsibilities, that are not met by most evaluated webpages, including sites from the Regional Health Services.