title: Third Molars on the Internet: A Guide for Assessing Information Quality and Readability.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Directing patients suffering from third molars (TMs) problems to high-quality online information is not only medically important, but also could enable better engagement in shared decision making.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to develop a scale that measures the scientific information quality (SIQ) for online information concerning wisdom tooth problems and to conduct a quality evaluation for online TMs resources. In addition, the study evaluated whether a specific piece of readability software (Readability Studio Professional 2012) might be reliable in measuring information comprehension, and explored predictors for the SIQ Scale.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional sample of websites was retrieved using certain keywords and phrases such as "impacted wisdom tooth problems" using 3 popular search engines. The retrieved websites (n=150) were filtered. The retained 50 websites were evaluated to assess their characteristics, usability, accessibility, trust, readability, SIQ, and their credibility using DISCERN and Health on the Net Code (HoNCode).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Websites' mean scale scores varied significantly across website affiliation groups such as governmental, commercial, and treatment provider bodies. The SIQ Scale had a good internal consistency (alpha=.85) and was significantly correlated with DISCERN (r=.82, P<.01) and HoNCode (r=.38, P<.01). Less than 25% of websites had SIQ scores above 75%. The mean readability grade (10.3, SD 1.9) was above the recommended level, and was significantly correlated with the Scientific Information Comprehension Scale (r=.45. P<.01), which provides evidence for convergent validity. Website affiliation and DISCERN were significantly associated with SIQ (P<.01) and explained 76% of the SIQ variance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The developed SIQ Scale was found to demonstrate reliability and initial validity. Website affiliation, DISCERN, and HoNCode were significant predictors for the quality of scientific information. The Readability Studio software estimates were associated with scientific information comprehensiveness measures.
authors.affiliation: PhD Candidate, Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health (ARCPOH), School of Dentistry, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. kamal.hanna@adelaide.edu.au.
authors.forename: Kamal
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2747-5220
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hanna
authors.forename: David
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7888-0920
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.forename: Paul
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8090-1543
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sambrook
authors.forename: Jason
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3223-8860
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Armfield
keywords: DISCERN; Health on the Net Code; Scientific Information Quality Scale; health information online; readability; website affiliation; website content analysis; wisdom teeth