TY - JOUR
T1 - Accuracy and completeness of patient information in organic world-wide web search for Mohs surgery
T2 - A prospective cross-sectional multirater study using consensus criteria
AU - Miller, Christopher J.
AU - Neuhaus, Isaac M.
AU - Sobanko, Joseph F.
AU - Veledar, Emir
AU - Alam, Murad
PY - 2013/11
Y1 - 2013/11
N2 - Background Many patients obtain medical information from the Internet. Inaccurate information affects patient care and perceptions. Objective To assess the accuracy and completeness of information regarding Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) on the Internet. Methods Prospective cross-sectional Internet-based study reviewing 30 consecutive organic results from three U.S. urban areas on "Mohs surgery" using Google. Text was assessed using a consensus-derived rating scale that quantified necessary and additional or supplementary information about MMS, as well as wrong information. Websites were classified according to type of sponsor. Results Ninety-one percent of sites conveyed basic information about MMS. There was variation in the mean amount of additional information items (range 0-9) according to website type: 8.4, medical societies; 6.7, academic practices; 5.9, web-based medical information resources; 4.7, private practices; and 4.4, other (p <.001). Cumulatively, academic practices and professional societies (mean 7.42) provided more additional information than private practices and web-based sources (mean 5.11, p <.001). There were no differences based on geographic location. Wrong items included misspelling Mohs (10%), indicating that only plastic surgeons could reconstruct (7%), and noting MMS was never cost-effective (7%). Conclusions High-ranking websites provide basic information about MMS. Academic practice and professional society sites provide more-comprehensive information, but private practice sites and web-based medical information sources also provide additional information.
AB - Background Many patients obtain medical information from the Internet. Inaccurate information affects patient care and perceptions. Objective To assess the accuracy and completeness of information regarding Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) on the Internet. Methods Prospective cross-sectional Internet-based study reviewing 30 consecutive organic results from three U.S. urban areas on "Mohs surgery" using Google. Text was assessed using a consensus-derived rating scale that quantified necessary and additional or supplementary information about MMS, as well as wrong information. Websites were classified according to type of sponsor. Results Ninety-one percent of sites conveyed basic information about MMS. There was variation in the mean amount of additional information items (range 0-9) according to website type: 8.4, medical societies; 6.7, academic practices; 5.9, web-based medical information resources; 4.7, private practices; and 4.4, other (p <.001). Cumulatively, academic practices and professional societies (mean 7.42) provided more additional information than private practices and web-based sources (mean 5.11, p <.001). There were no differences based on geographic location. Wrong items included misspelling Mohs (10%), indicating that only plastic surgeons could reconstruct (7%), and noting MMS was never cost-effective (7%). Conclusions High-ranking websites provide basic information about MMS. Academic practice and professional society sites provide more-comprehensive information, but private practice sites and web-based medical information sources also provide additional information.
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U2 - 10.1111/dsu.12344
DO - 10.1111/dsu.12344
M3 - Article
C2 - 24118592
AN - SCOPUS:84887260946
SN - 1076-0512
VL - 39
SP - 1654
EP - 1661
JO - Dermatologic Surgery
JF - Dermatologic Surgery
IS - 11
ER -