Evaluation of breastfeeding Web sites for patient education.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the quality of Web sites on breastfeeding for patient education.


METHODS
Descriptive study of 30 Web sites on breastfeeding for patient education, evaluated based on the Health Information Technology Institute (HITI) criteria, readability, and eight content criteria from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy statement on breastfeeding.


RESULTS
The mean Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level for readability of the 30 sites was 9.2. Seven of the sites included all eight of the content criteria from the AAP, and three sites did not include any of the information recommended by the AAP content criteria.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses should be able to recommend best patient education materials for their patients. The five best Web sites for breastfeeding education are identified for patient teaching, and the HITI criteria are explained for nurses to learn how to evaluate Web sites for themselves and their patients.
Dornan
Barbara A
BA
College of Nursing, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA. ai2888@wayne.edu
Oermann
Marilyn H
MH
D001942:Breast Feeding; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000592:standards*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards*; D016389:Maternal-Child Nursing; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D012944:Social Support; D014342:Truth Disclosure; D014584:User-Computer Interface