The Quality of Health Information Available on the Internet for Patients With Pelvic Organ Prolapse

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the quality of Web sites that provide information on pelvic organ prolapse using validated quality measurement tools. METHODS: The Google search engine was used to perform a search of the following 4 terms: pelvic organ prolapse, dropped bladder, cystocele, and vaginal mesh. The DISCERN appraisal tool and JAMA benchmark criteria were used to determine the quality of health information of each Web site. Cohen κ was performed to determine interrater reliability between reviewers. Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to compare DISCERN scores and JAMA criteria among search terms. RESULTS: Interrater reliability between the two reviewers using DISCERN was κ = 0.71 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.68-0.74] and using JAMA criteria was κ = 0.98 (95% CI, 0.74-1.0). On the basis of the DISCERN appraisal tool, the search term vaginal mesh had significantly lower Web site quality than pelvic organ prolapse and cystocele, respectively [mean difference of DISCERN score, -14.65 (95% CI, -25.50 to 8.50, P \u3c 0.0001) and -12.55 (95% CI, -24.00 to 7.00, P = 0.0007)]. Dropped bladder had significantly lower Web site quality compared to pelvic organ prolapse and cystocele, respectively (mean difference of DISCERN score, -9.55 (95% CI, -20.00 to 3.00, P = 0.0098) and -7.80 (95% CI, -18.00 to 1.00, P = 0.0348). Using JAMA criteria, there were no statistically significant differences between Web sites. CONCLUSIONS: Web sites queried under search terms vaginal mesh and dropped bladder are lower in quality compared with the Web sites found using the search terms pelvic organ prolapse and cystocele