Table 2.
Quality, readability, and search term frequency.
| Website category | Scientific resource (n=6) | Nonprofit (n=12) | For-profit (n=20) | News or media (n=2) | Personal or blog (n=2) | |||||
| DISCERN, median (IQR) | ||||||||||
|
|
Item 1 (clear aims) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | ||||
|
|
Item 2 (achieved aims) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | ||||
|
|
Item 3 (relevant) | 5 (4.5-5) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | ||||
|
|
Item 4 (information source) | 1 (1-2) | 1 (1-5) | 1 (1-1) | 3 (1-3) | 1 (1-1) | ||||
|
|
Item 5 (publication date) | 2 (1-5) | 5 (1-5) | 1 (1-1) | 5 (5-5) | 1 (1-1) | ||||
|
|
Item 6 (balanced and unbiased) | 5 (3.25-5) | 5 (1.5-5) | 1.5 (1-3) | 2.5 (2-2.5) | 3 (2-3) | ||||
|
|
Item 7 (additional information sources) | 2 (1-3.5) | 3 (1-5) | 1 (1-3) | 3 (1-3) | 2.5 (1-2.5) | ||||
|
|
Item 8 (areas of uncertainty) | 3.5 (2.75-5) | 3 (1-5) | 3 (2-3.75) | 4 (4-4) | 2 (1-2) | ||||
|
|
Item 9 (defines treatment) | 5 (4.75-5) | 4 (1.25-5) | 5 (4-5) | 3 (1-3) | 3 (1-3) | ||||
|
|
Item 10 (describes benefits) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (1.5-5) | 5 (2-5) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | ||||
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|
Item 11 (describes risks) | 5 (1-5) | 4 (1-5) | 2 (1-5) | 3.5 (2-3.5) | 1 (1-1) | ||||
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Item 12 (no treatment or usual care outcomes) | 1 (1-2) | 1 (1-4) | 1 (1-1.75) | 1 (1-1) | 3 (1-3) | ||||
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Item 13 (effect on quality of life) | 5 (4.5-5) | 5 (1-5) | 5 (2.25-5) | 5 (5-5) | 5 (5-5) | ||||
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Item 14 (alternative treatment choices) | 2 (1-5) | 1.5 (1-5) | 1 (1-5) | 2 (1-2) | 3 (1-3) | ||||
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Item 15 (shared decision-making support) | 3 (2.75-5) | 3 (1-4) | 3 (3-3.75) | 3 (3-3) | 3 (1-3) | ||||
|
|
Item 16 (overall) | 3.5 (2.75-4) | 3 (2.25-4) | 3 (2-3) | 2 (2-2) | 2.5 (2-2.5) | ||||
| JAMAa benchmark criteria, median (IQR) | ||||||||||
|
|
Benchmark 1 (authorship) | 1 (0.38-1) | 1 (0.63-1) | 0 (0-0.38) | 1 (1-1) | 1 (1-1) | ||||
|
|
Benchmark 2 (attribution) | 0 (0-0.25) | 0 (0-1) | 0 (0-0) | 0 (0-0) | 0 (0-0) | ||||
|
|
Benchmark 3 (currency) | 1 (0.75-1) | 1 (1-1) | 1 (1-1) | 0.75 (0.5-0.75) | 1 (1-1) | ||||
|
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Benchmark 4 (disclosure) | 0 (0-0.25) | 0.5 (0-1) | 0 (0-0.5) | 0.25 (0-0.25) | 0 (0-0) | ||||
|
|
Benchmark (total) | 2 (0.88-2.5) | 2.75 (2-3) | 1.25 (1-1.9) | 2 (1.5-2) | 2 (2-2) | ||||
| HONb code of conduct certificate, n (%) | 2 (33) | 4 (33) | 1 (5) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |||||
| Readability, mean (SD) | ||||||||||
|
|
Flesch reading ease score | 47.13 (11.54) | 52.19 (7.84) | 45.73 (10.66) | 43.80 (16.69) | 60.00 (19.94) | ||||
|
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Flesch-Kincaid grade level | 8.63 (1.72) | 7.95 (1.18) | 9.39 (1.88) | 15.15 (9.26) | 6.70 (3.54) | ||||
| Search term word frequency, mean (SD) | ||||||||||
|
|
“Spinal” frequency | 25.67 (16.02) | 14.33 (13.39) | 18.65 (19.22) | 12.00 (15.56) | 11.00 (12.73) | ||||
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“Spinal” (%) | 4.07 (2.18) | 2.79 (2.07) | 3.19 (1.89) | 0.85 (0.47) | 4.42 (2.71) | ||||
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“Cord” frequency | 23.67 (14.51) | 13.92 (13.03) | 17.40 (17.50) | 10.50 (13.44) | 9.00 (9.90) | ||||
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“Cord” (%) | 3.94 (2.26) | 2.77 (2.00) | 3.03 (1.79) | 5.36 (6.84) | 3.78 (1.81) | ||||
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“Stimulator” frequency | 13.83 (13.27) | 4.83 (6.82) | 11.95 (13.26) | 9.00 (11.31) | 9.50 (12.02) | ||||
|
|
“Stimulator” (%) | 1.70 (1.48) | 0.88 (1.37) | 1.91 (1.43) | 0.70 (0.25) | 3.48 (3.15) | ||||
aJAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association.
bHON: Health on the Net Foundation.