title: Prospective analysis of the quality of Spanish health information web sites after 3 years.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although the Internet has become an essential source of health information, our study conducted 3 years ago provided evidence of the low quality of Spanish health web sites. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the quality of Spanish health information web sites now, and to compare these results with those obtained 3 years ago.
  
  
  METHODS
  For the original study, the most visited health information web sites were selected through the PageRank® (Google®) system. The present study evaluated the quality of the same web sites from February to May 2013, using the method developed by Bermúdez-Tamayo et al. and HONCode® criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean quality of the selected web sites was low and has deteriorated since the previous evaluation, especially in regional health services and institutions' web sites. The quality of private web sites remained broadly similar. Compliance with privacy and update criteria also improved in the intervening period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that, even in the case of health web sites, design or appearance is more relevant to developers than quality of information. It is recommended that responsible institutions should increase their efforts to eliminate low-quality health information that may further contribute to health problems.
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Nursing , Catholic University of Murcia , Guadalupe , Murcia , Spain.
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Conesa-Fuentes
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Nursing , Catholic University of Murcia , Guadalupe , Murcia , Spain.
authors.forename: Juan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hernandez-Morante
mesh_terms: D000074522:Consumer Health Informatics; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007802:Language; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011786:Quality Control
keywords: HONCode®; Health web site; Internet; lay-user; quality