Web-Based Information on Spinal Cord Stimulation: Qualitative Assessment of Publicly Accessible Online Resources

Tiev Miller; Ali Hosseinzadeh; Thomas Thordarson; Tamila Kalimullina; Soshi Samejima; Claire Shackleton; Raza Malik; Martín Calderón-Juárez; Rahul Sachdeva; Andrei Krassioukov

doi:10.2196/50031

Web-Based Information on Spinal Cord Stimulation: Qualitative Assessment of Publicly Accessible Online Resources

Tiev Miller, Ali Hosseinzadeh, Thomas Thordarson, Tamila Kalimullina, Soshi Samejima, Claire Shackleton, Raza Malik, Martín Calderón-Juárez, Rahul Sachdeva, Andrei Krassioukov

Rehabilitation Medicine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Background: Despite the growing accessibility of web-based information related to spinal cord stimulation (SCS), the content and quality of commonly encountered websites remain unknown. Objective: This study aimed to assess the content and quality of web-based information on SCS. Methods: This qualitative study was prospectively registered in Open Science Framework. Google Trends was used to identify the top trending, SCS-related search queries from 2012 to 2022. Top queried terms were then entered into separate search engines. Information found on websites within the first 2 pages of results was extracted and assessed for quality using the DISCERN instrument, the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria, and the Health on the Net Foundation code of conduct certification. Website readability and SCS-related information were also assessed. Results: After exclusions, 42 unique sites were identified (scientific resources: n=6, nonprofit: n=12, for-profit: n=20, news or media: n=2, and personal or blog: n=2). Overall, information quality was moderate (DISCERN). Few sites met all the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria (n=3, 7%) or had Health on the Net Foundation certification (n=7, 16%). On average, information was difficult to read, requiring a 9th- to 10th-grade level of reading comprehension. Sites described SCS subcategories (n=14, 33%), indications (n=38, 90%), contraindications (n=14, 33%), side effects or risks (n=28, 66%), device considerations (n=25, 59%), follow-up (n=22, 52%), expected outcomes (n=31, 73%), provided authorship details (n=20, 47%), and publication dates (n=19, 45%). The proportion of for-profit sites reporting authorship information was comparatively less than other site types (n=3, 15%). Almost all sites focused on surgically implanted SCS (n=37, 88%). On average, nonprofit sites contained the greatest number of peer-reviewed reference citations (n=6, 50%). For-profit sites showed the highest proportion of physician or clinical referrals among site types (n=17, 85%) indicating implicit bias (ie, auto-referral). Conclusions: Overall, our findings suggest the public may be exposed to incomplete or dated information from unidentifiable sources that could put consumers and patient groups at risk.

Original language	English
Article number	50031
Journal	JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
Volume	10
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2196/50031
State	Published - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 JMIR Publications Inc.. All rights reserved.

Funding

TM is supported by postdoctoral fellowship awards jointly funded by Michael Smith Health Research BC, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), and the Rick Hansen Foundation (RHF). TK is supported by a Canada Graduate Scholarship through the CIHR and a WorkSafeBC research trainee award. MC-J is supported by a Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) postdoctoral fellowship award and the RHF. SS is supported by a PVA postdoctoral fellowship award, the RHF, and the Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation (WFLSCRF). RM is supported by a PVA postdoctoral fellowship award, a CIHR-funded fellowship award, and the RHF. CS is supported by a PVA postdoctoral fellowship award, a CIHR postdoctoral fellowship award, and the RHF. RS is supported by the WFLSCRF and the US Department of Defense. AK is the endowed chair in the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and is supported through grant funding provided by WFLSCRF, International Spinal Research Trust, Praxis, US Department of Defense, RHF, Onward, SpineX, Convatec, and Coloplast. Laboratory resources used for conducting the study were purchased with prior funding support from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the British Columbia Knowledge Translation Foundation.

Funders	Funder number
British Columbia Knowledge Translation Foundation
CIHR-funded Canadian Vascular Network
Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
SpineX, Convatec, and Coloplast
U.S. Department of Defense
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation
Rick Hansen Foundation
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canada Foundation for Innovation
Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research
International Spinal Research Trust

Keywords

access to information
communication
consumer health information
Google Trends
internet
misinformation
quality
readability
spinal cord stimulation
synthesis
web-based information

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health Informatics
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.2196/50031

Cite this

@article{762e62bb1e214bac8a9d5fcafcababdc,

title = "Web-Based Information on Spinal Cord Stimulation: Qualitative Assessment of Publicly Accessible Online Resources",

abstract = "Background: Despite the growing accessibility of web-based information related to spinal cord stimulation (SCS), the content and quality of commonly encountered websites remain unknown. Objective: This study aimed to assess the content and quality of web-based information on SCS. Methods: This qualitative study was prospectively registered in Open Science Framework. Google Trends was used to identify the top trending, SCS-related search queries from 2012 to 2022. Top queried terms were then entered into separate search engines. Information found on websites within the first 2 pages of results was extracted and assessed for quality using the DISCERN instrument, the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria, and the Health on the Net Foundation code of conduct certification. Website readability and SCS-related information were also assessed. Results: After exclusions, 42 unique sites were identified (scientific resources: n=6, nonprofit: n=12, for-profit: n=20, news or media: n=2, and personal or blog: n=2). Overall, information quality was moderate (DISCERN). Few sites met all the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria (n=3, 7\%) or had Health on the Net Foundation certification (n=7, 16\%). On average, information was difficult to read, requiring a 9th- to 10th-grade level of reading comprehension. Sites described SCS subcategories (n=14, 33\%), indications (n=38, 90\%), contraindications (n=14, 33\%), side effects or risks (n=28, 66\%), device considerations (n=25, 59\%), follow-up (n=22, 52\%), expected outcomes (n=31, 73\%), provided authorship details (n=20, 47\%), and publication dates (n=19, 45\%). The proportion of for-profit sites reporting authorship information was comparatively less than other site types (n=3, 15\%). Almost all sites focused on surgically implanted SCS (n=37, 88\%). On average, nonprofit sites contained the greatest number of peer-reviewed reference citations (n=6, 50\%). For-profit sites showed the highest proportion of physician or clinical referrals among site types (n=17, 85\%) indicating implicit bias (ie, auto-referral). Conclusions: Overall, our findings suggest the public may be exposed to incomplete or dated information from unidentifiable sources that could put consumers and patient groups at risk.",

keywords = "access to information, communication, consumer health information, Google Trends, internet, misinformation, quality, readability, spinal cord stimulation, synthesis, web-based information",

author = "Tiev Miller and Ali Hosseinzadeh and Thomas Thordarson and Tamila Kalimullina and Soshi Samejima and Claire Shackleton and Raza Malik and Mart{\'i}n Calder{\'o}n-Ju{\'a}rez and Rahul Sachdeva and Andrei Krassioukov",

year = "2024",

doi = "10.2196/50031",

language = "English",

volume = "10",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Web-Based Information on Spinal Cord Stimulation

T2 - Qualitative Assessment of Publicly Accessible Online Resources

AU - Miller, Tiev

AU - Hosseinzadeh, Ali

AU - Thordarson, Thomas

AU - Kalimullina, Tamila

AU - Samejima, Soshi

AU - Shackleton, Claire

AU - Malik, Raza

AU - Calderón-Juárez, Martín

AU - Sachdeva, Rahul

AU - Krassioukov, Andrei

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Background: Despite the growing accessibility of web-based information related to spinal cord stimulation (SCS), the content and quality of commonly encountered websites remain unknown. Objective: This study aimed to assess the content and quality of web-based information on SCS. Methods: This qualitative study was prospectively registered in Open Science Framework. Google Trends was used to identify the top trending, SCS-related search queries from 2012 to 2022. Top queried terms were then entered into separate search engines. Information found on websites within the first 2 pages of results was extracted and assessed for quality using the DISCERN instrument, the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria, and the Health on the Net Foundation code of conduct certification. Website readability and SCS-related information were also assessed. Results: After exclusions, 42 unique sites were identified (scientific resources: n=6, nonprofit: n=12, for-profit: n=20, news or media: n=2, and personal or blog: n=2). Overall, information quality was moderate (DISCERN). Few sites met all the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria (n=3, 7%) or had Health on the Net Foundation certification (n=7, 16%). On average, information was difficult to read, requiring a 9th- to 10th-grade level of reading comprehension. Sites described SCS subcategories (n=14, 33%), indications (n=38, 90%), contraindications (n=14, 33%), side effects or risks (n=28, 66%), device considerations (n=25, 59%), follow-up (n=22, 52%), expected outcomes (n=31, 73%), provided authorship details (n=20, 47%), and publication dates (n=19, 45%). The proportion of for-profit sites reporting authorship information was comparatively less than other site types (n=3, 15%). Almost all sites focused on surgically implanted SCS (n=37, 88%). On average, nonprofit sites contained the greatest number of peer-reviewed reference citations (n=6, 50%). For-profit sites showed the highest proportion of physician or clinical referrals among site types (n=17, 85%) indicating implicit bias (ie, auto-referral). Conclusions: Overall, our findings suggest the public may be exposed to incomplete or dated information from unidentifiable sources that could put consumers and patient groups at risk.

AB - Background: Despite the growing accessibility of web-based information related to spinal cord stimulation (SCS), the content and quality of commonly encountered websites remain unknown. Objective: This study aimed to assess the content and quality of web-based information on SCS. Methods: This qualitative study was prospectively registered in Open Science Framework. Google Trends was used to identify the top trending, SCS-related search queries from 2012 to 2022. Top queried terms were then entered into separate search engines. Information found on websites within the first 2 pages of results was extracted and assessed for quality using the DISCERN instrument, the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria, and the Health on the Net Foundation code of conduct certification. Website readability and SCS-related information were also assessed. Results: After exclusions, 42 unique sites were identified (scientific resources: n=6, nonprofit: n=12, for-profit: n=20, news or media: n=2, and personal or blog: n=2). Overall, information quality was moderate (DISCERN). Few sites met all the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria (n=3, 7%) or had Health on the Net Foundation certification (n=7, 16%). On average, information was difficult to read, requiring a 9th- to 10th-grade level of reading comprehension. Sites described SCS subcategories (n=14, 33%), indications (n=38, 90%), contraindications (n=14, 33%), side effects or risks (n=28, 66%), device considerations (n=25, 59%), follow-up (n=22, 52%), expected outcomes (n=31, 73%), provided authorship details (n=20, 47%), and publication dates (n=19, 45%). The proportion of for-profit sites reporting authorship information was comparatively less than other site types (n=3, 15%). Almost all sites focused on surgically implanted SCS (n=37, 88%). On average, nonprofit sites contained the greatest number of peer-reviewed reference citations (n=6, 50%). For-profit sites showed the highest proportion of physician or clinical referrals among site types (n=17, 85%) indicating implicit bias (ie, auto-referral). Conclusions: Overall, our findings suggest the public may be exposed to incomplete or dated information from unidentifiable sources that could put consumers and patient groups at risk.

KW - access to information

KW - communication

KW - consumer health information

KW - Google Trends

KW - internet

KW - misinformation

KW - quality

KW - readability

KW - spinal cord stimulation

KW - synthesis

KW - web-based information

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85185863076&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85185863076&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.2196/50031

DO - 10.2196/50031

M3 - Article

C2 - 38393781

AN - SCOPUS:85185863076

VL - 10

JO - JMIR Public Health and Surveillance

JF - JMIR Public Health and Surveillance

IS - 1

M1 - 50031

ER -

Web-Based Information on Spinal Cord Stimulation: Qualitative Assessment of Publicly Accessible Online Resources

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this