title: Surfing for juvenile idiopathic arthritis: perspectives on quality and content of information on the Internet.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the quality and content of English language Internet information about juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) from the perspectives of consumers and healthcare professionals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Key words relevant to JIA were searched across 10 search engines. Quality of information was appraised independently by 2 health professionals, 1 young adult with JIA, and a parent using the DISCERN tool. Concordance of the website content (i.e., accuracy and completeness) with available evidence about the management of JIA was determined. Readability was determined using Flesch-Kincaid grade level and Reading Ease Score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of the 3000 Web pages accessed, only 58 unique sites met the inclusion criteria. Of these sites only 16 had DISCERN scores above 50% (indicating fair quality). These sites were then rated by consumers. Most sites targeted parents and none were specifically developed for youth with JIA. The overall quality of website information was fair, with a mean DISCERN quality rating score of 48.92 out of 75 (+/- 6.56, range 34.0-59.5). Overall completeness of sites was 9.07 out of 16 (+/- 2.28, range 5.25-13.25) and accuracy was 3.09 out of 4 (+/- 0.86, range 2-4), indicating a moderate level of accuracy. Average Flesch-Kincaid grade level and Reading Ease Score were 11.48 (+/- 0.74, range 10.1-12.0) and 36.36 (+/- 10.86, range 6.30-48.1), respectively, indicating that the material was difficult to read.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study highlights the paucity of high quality Internet health information at an appropriate reading level for youth with JIA and their parents.
authors.affiliation: Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. jennifer.stinson@sickkids.ca
authors.forename: Jennifer N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Stinson
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Lindsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Navreet
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lukas-Bretzler
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Proulx
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prowten
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile; D002648:Child; D003254:Consumer Advocacy; D006266:Health Education / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D007255:Information Services / Q000592:standards*; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards*; D008490:Medical Informatics; D010290:Parents; D012648:Self Care