Searching the Internet for information on prostate cancer screening: an assessment of quality.
OBJECTIVE
To identify how on-line information relating to prostate cancer screening (PCS) is best sourced, whether through general, medical, or meta-search engines, and to assess the quality of that information.


METHODS
Websites providing information about PCS were searched across 15 search engines representing three distinct types: general, medical, and meta-search engines. The quality of on-line information was assessed using the DISCERN quality assessment tool. Quality performance characteristics were analyzed by performing Mann-Whitney U tests. Search engine efficiency was measured by each search query as a percentage of the relevant websites included for analysis from the total returned and analyzed by performing Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance.


RESULTS
Of 6690 websites reviewed, 84 unique websites were identified as providing information relevant to PCS. General and meta-search engines were significantly more efficient at retrieving relevant information on PCS compared with medical search engines. The quality of information was variable, with most of a poor standard. Websites that provided referral links to other resources and a citation of evidence provided a significantly better quality of information. In contrast, websites offering a direct service were more likely to provide a significantly poorer quality of information.


CONCLUSIONS
The current lack of a clear consensus on guidelines and recommendation in published data is also reflected by the variable quality of information found on-line. Specialized medical search engines were no more likely to retrieve relevant, high-quality information than general or meta-search engines.
Ilic
Dragan
D
Monash Institute of Health Services Research, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Risbridger
Gail
G
Green
Sally
S
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000465:Algorithms; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D010173:Palpation; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012107:Research Design; D014463:Ultrasonography; D036761:Ultrasound, High-Intensity Focused, Transrectal
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen