German dentists’ websites on periodontitis have low quality of information
Abstract Background The internet is an increasingly relevant source of health information. We aimed to assess the quality of German dentists’ websites on periodontitis, hypothesizing that it was significantly associated with a number of practice-specific parameters. Methods We searched four electron...
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doaj-b4a0ea3e1fe34fbca2f1d6a44bc2fa2a2020-11-24T23:19:45ZengBMCBMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making1472-69472017-08-011711810.1186/s12911-017-0511-8German dentists’ websites on periodontitis have low quality of informationFalk Schwendicke0Jörg Stange1Claudia Stange2Christian Graetz3Department of Operative and Preventive Dentistry, Charité – Universitätsmedizin BerlinStange DentalStange DentalClinic of Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, University Medical Center Schleswig-HolsteinAbstract Background The internet is an increasingly relevant source of health information. We aimed to assess the quality of German dentists’ websites on periodontitis, hypothesizing that it was significantly associated with a number of practice-specific parameters. Methods We searched four electronic search engines and included pages which were freely accessible, posted by a dental practice in Germany, and mentioned periodontal disease/therapy. Websites were assessed for (1) technical and functional aspects, (2) generic quality and risk of bias, (3) disease-specific information. For 1 and 2, validated tools (LIDA/DISCERN) were used for assessment. For 3, we developed a criterion catalogue encompassing items on etiologic and prognostic factors for periodontitis, the diagnostic and treatment process, and the generic chance of tooth retention in periodontitis patients. Inter- and intra-rater reliabilities were largely moderate. Generalized linear modeling was used to assess the association between the information quality (measured as % of maximally available scores) and practice-specific characteristics. Results Seventy-one websites were included. Technical and functional aspects were reported in significantly higher quality (median: 71%, 25/75th percentiles: 67/79%) than all other aspects (p < 0.05). Generic risk of bias and most disease-specific aspects showed significantly lower reporting quality (median range was 0–40%), with poorest reporting for prognostic factors (9;0/27%), diagnostic process (0;0/33%) and chances of tooth retention (0;0/2%). We found none of the practice-specific parameters to have significant impact on the overall quality of the websites. Conclusions Most German dentists’ websites on periodontitis are not fully trustworthy and relevant information are not or insufficiently considered. There is great need to improve the information quality from such websites at least with regards to periodontitis.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12911-017-0511-8Decision makingEvidence-based dentistryHealth services researchInternetPeriodontitisPublic health |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Falk Schwendicke Jörg Stange Claudia Stange Christian Graetz |
spellingShingle |
Falk Schwendicke Jörg Stange Claudia Stange Christian Graetz German dentists’ websites on periodontitis have low quality of information BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making Decision making Evidence-based dentistry Health services research Internet Periodontitis Public health |
author_facet |
Falk Schwendicke Jörg Stange Claudia Stange Christian Graetz |
author_sort |
Falk Schwendicke |
title |
German dentists’ websites on periodontitis have low quality of information |
title_short |
German dentists’ websites on periodontitis have low quality of information |
title_full |
German dentists’ websites on periodontitis have low quality of information |
title_fullStr |
German dentists’ websites on periodontitis have low quality of information |
title_full_unstemmed |
German dentists’ websites on periodontitis have low quality of information |
title_sort |
german dentists’ websites on periodontitis have low quality of information |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making |
issn |
1472-6947 |
publishDate |
2017-08-01 |
description |
Abstract Background The internet is an increasingly relevant source of health information. We aimed to assess the quality of German dentists’ websites on periodontitis, hypothesizing that it was significantly associated with a number of practice-specific parameters. Methods We searched four electronic search engines and included pages which were freely accessible, posted by a dental practice in Germany, and mentioned periodontal disease/therapy. Websites were assessed for (1) technical and functional aspects, (2) generic quality and risk of bias, (3) disease-specific information. For 1 and 2, validated tools (LIDA/DISCERN) were used for assessment. For 3, we developed a criterion catalogue encompassing items on etiologic and prognostic factors for periodontitis, the diagnostic and treatment process, and the generic chance of tooth retention in periodontitis patients. Inter- and intra-rater reliabilities were largely moderate. Generalized linear modeling was used to assess the association between the information quality (measured as % of maximally available scores) and practice-specific characteristics. Results Seventy-one websites were included. Technical and functional aspects were reported in significantly higher quality (median: 71%, 25/75th percentiles: 67/79%) than all other aspects (p < 0.05). Generic risk of bias and most disease-specific aspects showed significantly lower reporting quality (median range was 0–40%), with poorest reporting for prognostic factors (9;0/27%), diagnostic process (0;0/33%) and chances of tooth retention (0;0/2%). We found none of the practice-specific parameters to have significant impact on the overall quality of the websites. Conclusions Most German dentists’ websites on periodontitis are not fully trustworthy and relevant information are not or insufficiently considered. There is great need to improve the information quality from such websites at least with regards to periodontitis. |
topic |
Decision making Evidence-based dentistry Health services research Internet Periodontitis Public health |
url |
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12911-017-0511-8 |
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