Do the leading children's hospitals have quality websites? A
Description of Children's Hospital Web Sites
Terry Kind, Kathryn L. Wheeler, Byanqa Robinson, Michael D. Cabana. J
Med Internet Res 2004, June, 25; 6(2): e20
http://www.jmir.org/2004/2/e20/
Abstract
Background
Although leading children's hospitals are recognized as pre-eminent in
the provision of health care to children, the quality of their Web sites has
not been described.
Objective
To describe technical characteristics of the Web sites of leading
children's hospitals.
Methods
This is a cross-sectional descriptive infodemiology study. Two reviewers
independently reviewed and analyzed the websites of 26 nationally prominent
children's hospitals in June 2003, using objective criteria based on
accessibility (based on age and language), attribution, completeness,
credibility, currency, disclosure, readability, and other technical
elements.
Results
One-third of websites included content for children and adolescents.
Twenty four (92%) of the websites had health and disease-specific
information. One third contained only English, while two thirds included
other languages. All 26 websites included a disclaimer, although none had a
requirement to read the disclaimer before accessing health and
disease-specific information. Twenty four (92%) had search options. Although
most (85%) listed a copyright date, only 10% listed the date last updated.
Conclusions
This is the first study to examine the websites of leading children's
hospitals. Although the websites were designed for children's hospitals,
only a few sites included content for children and adolescents.
Primary care physicians who refer patients to these sites should be aware
that many have limited content for children, and should assess them for
other limitations, such as inconsistent documentation of disclaimers or
failure to show the date of the last website update. These websites are a
potentially useful source of patient information. However, as the public
increasingly looks to the Internet for health information, children's
hospitals need to keep up with increasingly high standards and demands of
healthcare consumers.
(J Med Internet Res 2004;6(2):e20)
Keywords
World Wide Web; Internet; children's hospitals; hospitals; pediatric;
health information; quality; quality indicators; health care
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Journal of Medical Internet Research:
www.jmir.org
Do the leading children's
hospitals have quality websites?