Study: Online information about cleft lip, palate abounds but varies in quality

For the article “Internet-Derived Information on Cleft Lip and Palate for Families with Affected Children,” Gregory Stylianos Antonarakis and Stavros Kiliaridis used results from three Internet search engines for the phrases “cleft lip,” “cleft palate,” and “family information.” The first 25 relevant websites for each search were downloaded and assessed on 10 factors and readability.

They found that most of the websites were based in the United States, were authored by universities or hospitals, lacked advertisements, mentioned orthodontics, and contained some illustrations. But the quality and quantity of information varied, and the readability ranged from writing on a fourth-grade reading level to a graduate level. Because of this, the authors say, health clinicians should help guide families to relevant websites, and the authors of these websites should strive to present readable and relevant information.

“The potential of the Internet to influence how health professionals interact with patients and how health care is delivered is vast,” write Antonarakis and Kiliaridis. They note that 80 percent of people with Internet access use it to research health-related issues.

While the Internet provides quick and easy access to vast medical knowledge, there is little if any regulation of this information, making it hard to judge the “credibility and reliability” of medical website content, the authors say.

“Information provided on the Internet is only of use to the extent that it is comprehensible to the reader,” they write. Confusion caused by website layout, writing style, or cultural differences can heighten anxiety among patients and their families and may affect health decisions.

The authors identify a few websites that provide good information, including www.medlineplus.gov and healthfinder.gov. They also note that the World Health Organization has proposed establishing a “.health” domain that it would supervise to simplify the process of searching for reliable health information.

Because the demand for online health information will only continue to grow, Antonarakis and Kiliaridis stress the need to help practitioners and others in the health industry identify useful websites and direct patients to them.