An evaluation of the quality, readability and Canadian content of Canadian Web sites providing female urinary incontinence information and a brief examination of Web site interactivity.

摘要

Urinary incontinence (UI) affects 25-30% of women. Lack of knowledge, the taboo nature of UI, the limited number of female UI specialists, and the fact that many primary care physicians in Canada feel unprepared to treat female UI, make access to UI information and care difficult. The Internet provides a unique vehicle for provision of UI information to individuals anonymously and discreetly. However, the quality of Internet health information varies. Consumers want guidance to high quality health web sites from healthcare providers. UI specialists used "JAMA Benchmarks" for general web quality, specific UI information quality criteria based on clinical practice guidelines and author-compiled tools to evaluate quality, Canadian content, and interactivity of 56 Canadian web-sites (professional, organizational, commercial). Organizational sites were significantly better for general web site quality. All sites had moderate Canadian content and interactivity. The mean Flesch-Kincaid readability score for UI information, all sites, was grade 10+.