Water fluoridation and the quality of information available online
| Autor: | Maryke S. Steffens, Julie Leask, Zachary J. Frangos |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
media_common.quotation_subject
Internet privacy Information Seeking Behavior Health literacy Health Promotion 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Fluoridation Web page Credibility Health care Humans Quality (business) 030212 general & internal medicine General Dentistry media_common Internet Consumer Health Information Scientific Research Report business.industry Information quality 030206 dentistry Health Literacy Search Engine The Internet business Psychology Dental public health |
| Zdroj: | Int Dent J |
| ISSN: | 1875-595X |
| Popis: | Background The Internet has transformed the way in which people approach their health care, with online resources becoming a primary source of health information. Little work has assessed the quality of online information regarding community water fluoridation. This study sought to assess the information available to individuals searching online for information, with emphasis on the credibility and quality of websites. Methods We identified the top 10 web pages returned from different search engines, using common fluoridation search terms (identified in Google Trends). Web pages were scored using a credibility, quality and health literacy tool based on Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GAVCS) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria. Scores were compared according to their fluoridation stance and domain type, then ranked by quality. The functionality of the scoring tool was analysed via a Bland-Altman plot of inter-rater reliability. Results Five-hundred web pages were returned, of which 55 were scored following removal of duplicates and irrelevant pages. Of these, 28 (51%) were pro-fluoridation, 16 (29%) were neutral and 11 (20%) were anti-fluoridation. Pro, neutral and anti-fluoridation pages scored well against health literacy standards (0.91, 0.90 and 0.81/1 respectively). Neutral and pro-fluoridation web pages showed strong credibility, with mean scores of 0.80 and 0.85 respectively, while anti-fluoridation scored 0.62/1. Most pages scored poorly for content quality, providing a moderate amount of superficial information. Conclusion Those seeking online information regarding water fluoridation are faced with comprehensible, yet poorly referenced, superficial information. Sites were credible and user friendly; however, our results suggest that online resources need to focus on providing more transparent information with appropriate figures to consolidate the information. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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