Content and Quality of Websites for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: An Environmental Scan
Background: Although numerous websites for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are available, little is known about their content and quality. Objective: To evaluate the quality of CKD websites, and the degree to which they align with information needs identified by patients with CKD. Methods...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2019-07-01
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| Series: | Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2054358119863091 |
| _version_ | 1818255815537065984 |
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| author | Michelle Smekal Sarah Gil Maoliosa Donald Heather Beanlands Sharon Straus Gwen Herrington Dwight Sparkes Lori Harwood Allison Tong Allan Grill Karen Tu Blair Waldvogel Chantel Large Claire Large Marta Novak Matthew James Meghan Elliott Maria Delgado Scott Brimble Susan Samuel Brenda R. Hemmelgarn |
| author_facet | Michelle Smekal Sarah Gil Maoliosa Donald Heather Beanlands Sharon Straus Gwen Herrington Dwight Sparkes Lori Harwood Allison Tong Allan Grill Karen Tu Blair Waldvogel Chantel Large Claire Large Marta Novak Matthew James Meghan Elliott Maria Delgado Scott Brimble Susan Samuel Brenda R. Hemmelgarn |
| author_sort | Michelle Smekal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Although numerous websites for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are available, little is known about their content and quality. Objective: To evaluate the quality of CKD websites, and the degree to which they align with information needs identified by patients with CKD. Methods: We identified websites by entering “chronic kidney disease” in 3 search engines: Google.com (with regional variants for Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), Bing.com, and Yahoo.com. We included the first 50 unique English-language sites from each search. We evaluated website content using a 30-point scale comprising 8 priority content domains identified by patients with CKD ( understanding CKD, diet, symptoms, medications, mental/physical health, finances, travel , and work/school ). We used standardized tools to evaluate usability, reliability, and readability (DISCERN, HONcode, LIDA, Reading Ease, and Reading Grade Level). Two reviewers independently conducted the search, screen, and evaluation. Results: Of the 2093 websites identified, 115 were included. Overall, sites covered a mean (SD) of 29% (17.8) of the CKD content areas. The proportion of sites covering content related to understanding CKD, symptoms , and diet was highest (97%, 80%, and 72%, respectively). The proportion of sites covering travel, finances , and work/school content was lowest (22%, 12%, and 12%, respectively). The mean (SD) scores for DISCERN, LIDA and HONcode were 68% (14.6), 71% (14.4), and 75% (17.2), respectively, considered above average for usability and reliability. The mean (SD) Reading Grade Level was 10.6 (2.8) and Reading Ease was 49.8 (14.4), suggesting poor readability. Conclusions: Although many CKD web sites were of reasonable quality, their readability was poor. Furthermore, most sites covered less than 30% of the content patients identified as important for CKD self-management. These results will inform content gaps in internet-accessible information on CKD self-management that should be addressed by future eHealth web-based tools. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T17:17:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2c90490dfed44028a96f585b484a6a9f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-3581 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T17:17:51Z |
| publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease |
| spelling | doaj.art-2c90490dfed44028a96f585b484a6a9f2022-12-22T00:17:44ZengSAGE PublishingCanadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease2054-35812019-07-01610.1177/2054358119863091Content and Quality of Websites for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: An Environmental ScanMichelle Smekal0Sarah Gil1Maoliosa Donald2Heather Beanlands3Sharon Straus4Gwen Herrington5Dwight Sparkes6Lori Harwood7Allison Tong8Allan Grill9Karen Tu10Blair Waldvogel11Chantel Large12Claire Large13Marta Novak14Matthew James15Meghan Elliott16Maria Delgado17Scott Brimble18Susan Samuel19Brenda R. Hemmelgarn20Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, AB, CanadaDepartment of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, AB, CanadaDepartment of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, AB, CanadaDaphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, CanadaLi Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, CanadaCan-SOLVE CKD Network Patient Partners, Vancouver, BC, CanadaCan-SOLVE CKD Network Patient Partners, Vancouver, BC, CanadaLondon Health Sciences Centre, ON, CanadaSydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, NSW, AustraliaDepartment of Family & Community Medicine, University of Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Family & Community Medicine, University of Toronto, ON, CanadaCan-SOLVE CKD Network Patient Partners, Vancouver, BC, CanadaCan-SOLVE CKD Network Patient Partners, Vancouver, BC, CanadaCan-SOLVE CKD Network Patient Partners, Vancouver, BC, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, AB, CanadaDepartment of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, AB, CanadaCan-SOLVE CKD Network Patient Partners, Vancouver, BC, CanadaDepartment of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, AB, CanadaDepartment of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, AB, CanadaBackground: Although numerous websites for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are available, little is known about their content and quality. Objective: To evaluate the quality of CKD websites, and the degree to which they align with information needs identified by patients with CKD. Methods: We identified websites by entering “chronic kidney disease” in 3 search engines: Google.com (with regional variants for Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), Bing.com, and Yahoo.com. We included the first 50 unique English-language sites from each search. We evaluated website content using a 30-point scale comprising 8 priority content domains identified by patients with CKD ( understanding CKD, diet, symptoms, medications, mental/physical health, finances, travel , and work/school ). We used standardized tools to evaluate usability, reliability, and readability (DISCERN, HONcode, LIDA, Reading Ease, and Reading Grade Level). Two reviewers independently conducted the search, screen, and evaluation. Results: Of the 2093 websites identified, 115 were included. Overall, sites covered a mean (SD) of 29% (17.8) of the CKD content areas. The proportion of sites covering content related to understanding CKD, symptoms , and diet was highest (97%, 80%, and 72%, respectively). The proportion of sites covering travel, finances , and work/school content was lowest (22%, 12%, and 12%, respectively). The mean (SD) scores for DISCERN, LIDA and HONcode were 68% (14.6), 71% (14.4), and 75% (17.2), respectively, considered above average for usability and reliability. The mean (SD) Reading Grade Level was 10.6 (2.8) and Reading Ease was 49.8 (14.4), suggesting poor readability. Conclusions: Although many CKD web sites were of reasonable quality, their readability was poor. Furthermore, most sites covered less than 30% of the content patients identified as important for CKD self-management. These results will inform content gaps in internet-accessible information on CKD self-management that should be addressed by future eHealth web-based tools.https://doi.org/10.1177/2054358119863091 |
| spellingShingle | Michelle Smekal Sarah Gil Maoliosa Donald Heather Beanlands Sharon Straus Gwen Herrington Dwight Sparkes Lori Harwood Allison Tong Allan Grill Karen Tu Blair Waldvogel Chantel Large Claire Large Marta Novak Matthew James Meghan Elliott Maria Delgado Scott Brimble Susan Samuel Brenda R. Hemmelgarn Content and Quality of Websites for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: An Environmental Scan Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease |
| title | Content and Quality of Websites for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: An Environmental Scan |
| title_full | Content and Quality of Websites for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: An Environmental Scan |
| title_fullStr | Content and Quality of Websites for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: An Environmental Scan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Content and Quality of Websites for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: An Environmental Scan |
| title_short | Content and Quality of Websites for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: An Environmental Scan |
| title_sort | content and quality of websites for patients with chronic kidney disease an environmental scan |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/2054358119863091 |
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