Table 1.

Quality of content and accountability of 21 websites with information on treating depression as a function of site characteristics. Values are mean scores unless stated otherwise

Site characteristic	No (%) of sites	Quality of content			Silberg accountability score (max=9)
		Guideline score (max=43)	Issues score (max=17)	Global score (max=10)
Editorial board present:
Yes	5 (24)	7.6	11.6	3.9	5.4
No	16 (76)	3.8*	9.3*	2.7	5.4
Ownership structure:
Organisation†	11 (52)	6.5	10.8	3.5	4.9
Individual	10 (48)	2.7*	8.7*	2.4	6.0
Ownership type:
Commercial‡	9 (43)	6.8	11.0	3.5	4.9
Professional§	5 (24)	3.0	8.6	3.2	6.4
Consumer¶	7 (33)	3.3	9.1	2.1	5.4
Drug company involved:
Yes‡‡	4 (19)	4.1	10.8	4.3	4.0
No	17 (81)	7.5	9.6	2.6	5.8
Scope of information:
Depression ††	13 (62)	3.7	3.0	3.0	5.7
Depression + other	8 (38)	6.4	2.8	2.8	5.0
Health professional involved:
Yes§§	11 (52)	5.5	10.3	3.4	6.0
No	10 (48)	3.9	9.3	2.5*	4.8
All sites (mean (range) scores)	21	4.71 (0-13)	9.81 (6-14)	2.95 (0.5-7.5)	5.43 (2-9)

^*P⩽0.05. 

^†Commercial, consumer, or other organised group. 

^‡For profit organisation such as drug, media, or web company (including one site owned by commercial organisation with input from university hospital staff and one site jointly owned by a commercial and a non-profit organisation). 

^§Health professional including general practitioner, psychiatrist, psychologist, or counsellor (none of the sites was owned solely by a research centre, university, medical or health professional organisation, or hospital). 

^¶Site established by a consumer, carer or friend, or consumer organisation. 

^‡‡Owned or sponsored by drug company. 

^††At least two thirds of site devoted to depression. 

^§§ Health professional(s) involved in writing material or on editorial board.