Quality of information of websites dedicated to obesity: a systematic search to promote high level of information for Internet users and professionals

The quality of information on anxiety-related websites: A systematic search about the most online item searched after Covid-19 pandemics

BACKGROUND

The acquisition of health information via the internet has emerged as a prevalent approach within the general population and is likely to exert an influence on health decision-making processes. This study aims to evaluate the comprehensive quality of online information about anxiety treatment and management comparing websites in English, which is widely used for international scientific communication, and Italian, a popular local language. It was used a multidimensional methodology that assesses scientific quality of information; readability of the website; the technological quality of the website and the website's popularity ranking.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic search on four widely used online search engines. Duplicated, unrelated websites, and scientific papers were excluded. The assessment included the use of several criteria and tools: the DISCERN scale, the JAMA benchmark criteria, adherence to the Health on the Net Code; the Nibbler tool; PageRank; and the Flesch Reading Ease test/the Gulpease readability index.

RESULTS

78 websites in Italian and 60 in English were evaluated. Quality of information of the English websites was higher than that of the Italian ones, but only a small percentage of them reported high level information about all treatment types and shared decision-making process. Technological quality was higher in English websites. In general, all websites were difficult to read, requiring reading skills at the high school level or higher.

CONCLUSIONS

These results can promote future guidelines to improve online health information. Users should be able to find information about all treatment types (pharmacological and psychosocial) in line with the current guidelines for the treatment and the management of anxiety disorders. This would help internet users to achieve a higher level of quality information.

Popularity of Surgical and Pharmacological Obesity Treatment Methods Searched by Google Users: the Retrospective Analysis of Google Trends Statistics in 2004-2022

PURPOSE

Many individuals search for obesity treatment options on the Internet. We aimed to analyze the popularity of pharmacological and surgical obesity treatment methods searched by Google users.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We used Google Trends to identify topics representing the following: recommended surgical methods (n = 9), recommended pharmacological methods (n = 10), and not recommended pharmacological methods (n = 34). The data was generated for 2004-2022 and 2020-2022. Relative search volume (RSV) was adjusted using "Gastric bypass surgery" as a benchmark. We analyzed the geographical and temporal trends of the topics.

RESULTS

In 2004-2022, the topics representing recommended surgical methods numerically gained the most popularity among Google users, but in 2020-2022 the recommended drugs exceeded other obesity treatment methods. The most popular individual topics since 2004 were "flaxseed," "Spirulina," "Carnitine," "Bariatric surgery," and "Orlistat." The most dynamic increases of searches since 2004 were observed for "Sleeve gastrectomy," "Curcumin," "Psyllium," and "Bupropion/Naltrexon." Since 2018, topics representing GLP-1 analogs such as "Semaglutide" and "Saxenda" revealed exponential increases in RSV, causing that "Semaglutide" to become the fourth most popular topic in 2020-2022.

CONCLUSIONS

Google users across the world were the most interested in topics representing bariatric surgery, but recently recommended drugs for the treatment of obesity gained the most attention. The most popular individual topics were dietary supplements with uncertain effects on weight loss.

The Current Quality of Web-Based Information on the Treatment of Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Search

Background: An important aspect of managing chronic disorders like bipolar disorder is to have access to relevant health information. This study investigates and compares the quality of information on the treatments of bipolar disorder that is available on English websites, as an international language, and on Italian websites, as a popular local language. Methods: A systematic review search was obtained from four search engines. We excluded unrelated materials, scientific papers, and duplicates. We analyzed popularity with PageRank; technological quality with Nibbler; readability with the Flesh Reading Ease test and Gulpease index; quality of information with the DISCERN scale, the JAMA benchmark criteria, and on the extent of adherence to the HONCode. Results: 35 English and 31 Italian websites were included. The English websites were found to have a higher level of quality information and technological quality than the Italian ones. Overall, the websites were found to be difficult to read, requiring a high level of education. Conclusions: These results can be important to inform guidelines for the improvement of health information and help users to reach a higher level of evidence on the websites. Users should find the benefits of treatment, support for shared decision-making, the sources used, the medical editor’s supervision, and the risk of postponing treatment.

Evaluating breast cancer websites targeting Arabic speakers: empirical investigation of popularity, availability, accessibility, readability, and quality

Background

Nowadays, patients have access to all types of health information on the internet, influencing their decision-making process. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region consists of 22 countries with an estimated population of around 600 million. Breast cancer is the highest diagnosed cancer in this region. Websites are commonly the go-to cancer information sources. A large population of the MENA region is only fluent in the Arabic language, thus access to Arabic websites is in more demand. However, little is known about breast cancer websites that cater to an Arabic-speaking audience. This study aims at evaluating Arabic breast cancer websites and offering recommendations to improve engagement and access to health information.

Methods

This study employed a cross-sectional analysis approach. Google trends was used to reveal the top searched topics across the MENA region, which in turn were used as search terms to identify the websites. To be included, a website had to be active, available in Arabic, and contain breast cancer information. The evaluation was based on a combination of automated and expert-based evaluation methods through five dimensions: Availability, Accessibility, Readability, Quality, and Popularity.

Results

Overall most of the websites performed poorly in the five dimensions and require careful reassessment concerning design, content, and readability levels; Only one website performed well in all dimensions, except for readability. Generally, the readability scores indicated that the websites were above the recommended level of reading. None of the websites passed the automated accessibility tests. The expert evaluation using the “Health on the Net” checklist showed good results for most websites.

Conclusions

Breast cancer rates are rising in the MENA region, therefore having comprehensive, accurate, trustworthy, and easy-to-understand health information in their native language is a must. The results from this study show a need for improving the accessibility to breast cancer information websites available to Arabic speakers. The search was limited to three search engines yielding 10 websites and only one tool was used per dimension. Future work is needed to overcome these limitations. Collaboration between multiple stakeholders is necessary to develop websites that contain easy-to-read and understand high-quality information.