Coronary angioplasty and the internet: what can patients searching online expect to find?
OBJECTIVE
This study set out to assess the quality of online information available on coronary angioplasty.


BACKGROUND
Patients searching for healthcare information frequently use the Internet. However the lay reader may not be able to discern the robustness of evidence presented. At present, the overall quality and accuracy of online content regarding coronary angioplasty is unknown.


METHODS
The search term "coronary angioplasty" was entered into three popular search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing), and the first 50 webpages provided by each search engine pooled. Exclusion criteria consisted of duplicated sites, sites requiring a registration or login, and direct links to documents or videos. The remaining sites were analyzed using the LIDA instrument; a validated method for assessing websites based on accessibility, usability, and readability. Readability was also separately assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES).


RESULTS
Of 150 weblinks reviewed, 86 were excluded on the basis of the criteria listed above. The remaining 64 sites achieved mean scores of 50/60 (83%) on accessibility, 40/54 (74%) on usability, 32/51 (62%) on reliability, and 47.5 on FRES. Significant variability was noted among the LIDA scores, with no correlation between LIDA score and search engine ranking.


CONCLUSIONS
Although most websites are easy to access, content is frequently out-of-date and fails to be presented in an easily comprehensible format. A minority of websites display factually incorrect information. Clinicians should be wary of patients being misled by erroneous or commercially biased online content, and be able to redirect their patients to more robust, up-to-date sources.
Royal College of Physicians, Regent's Park, London, UK. varo.kirthi@gmail.com
Varo
V
Kirthi
Bhavik N
BN
Modi
D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon; D032882:Comprehension; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D020407:Internet; D011594:Psychometrics; D011932:Reading