Abstract
Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Introduction Patients frequently use the internet as an educational resource and sometimes in complete substitution of an expert physician’s consultation. Sudden cardiac arrests (SCA) in athletes are often sensationalised and attract much online readership. No studies have explored the quality of online content relating to SCA in athletes. Purpose To assess the quality of online educational resources on SCA in athletes. Methods The first 200 hits of the search "sudden cardiac arrest in athletes" on Google were analyzed. For each website, reading difficulty was evaluated using 5 validated reading indices. Content quality was assessed with point-based scoring systems established by expert opinion. Results A total of 115 unique web domains met eligibility criteria, only 2 of which were within the limits of national recommended readability level (≤8th grade). 53.9% were from educational institutions. Mean content accuracy scored only 6.5 ± 3.9 out of 15 (43%), and mean school-grade reading level was 13.3 ± 2.9 years (equivalent to a post-secondary level of education). The majority of websites had poor lay appropriate explanations of concepts; 91.3% failed to adequately explain basic principles of treatment; 68.7% failed to mention over half of common etiologies associated with SCA; only 59.1% correctly cited incidence of SCA amongst young athletes; 24.3% did not explore management options and only 28.7% mentioned treatment options beyond immediate resuscitation. Higher reading difficulty correlated with higher accuracy scores (β 1.1, p < 0.001). Conclusion There is a paucity of accurate, lay language appropriate online health information on SCA in athletes. Incomprehensible and incomplete information may lead to inappropriate decisions by patients. A collaborative approach between experts and patients may assist in the creation of resources related to athletes’ health.
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