Hidradenitis suppurativa gains increasing interest on World Wide Web: a source for patient information?
BACKGROUND
Gathering health information from Internet websites is increasingly utilized by patients. No data exist about hidradenitis suppurativa (HS)-related online health information. Thus, we aimed to study the quality, popularity, readability, and timeliness of the most frequented websites on HS.


METHODS
Google Trends was used to evaluate the public interest in HS. An Internet search on Google was performed for the terms "hidradenitis suppurativa," "acne inversa," and "Verneuil's disease." Readability scores, HONcode quality certification, Alexa popularity rank, and content were assessed.


RESULTS
Google search queries on HS have steadily risen in the last 10 years. The website analysis revealed 39 unique websites, which were difficult to read. Ten websites (26%) had HONcode quality certification, and the median (IQR) Alexa popularity rank was 48871 (2333-361275). Thirteen websites (33%) yielded disease-specific photos with a median rating between "quite useful" and "uncertain." A therapy option with adalimumab was mentioned on 11 websites (28%).


CONCLUSIONS
In addition to an increasing interest, we found a broad variation in the quality, readability, popularity, and timeliness of content on HS-related websites. Improvement of the quality and readability of HS-related websites is desirable to potentially raise disease awareness and contribute to an earlier presentation of patients suffering with undiagnosed HS.
Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Schapoor
S
Hessam
Department of Urology, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Johannes
J
Salem
Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Falk G
FG
Bechara
Department of Urology, University Hospital Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Axel
A
Haferkamp
Department of Urology, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Axel
A
Heidenreich
Department of Urology, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Pia
P
Paffenholz
Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Michael
M
Sand
Department of Urology, University Hospital Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Igor
I
Tsaur
Department of Urology, University Hospital Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Hendrik
H
Borgmann
D032882:Comprehension; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D017497:Hidradenitis Suppurativa; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D038622:Internationality; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D057386:Search Engine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*