Table 2.
Criteria used by consumers to evaluate the quality of online health information.
| Criterion | Definition | Articles reporting the criterion, n (%) |
| Trustworthiness | Whether a source or information is honest or truthful and can be trusted | 31 (84) |
| Expertise | Whether a source or author has a sufficient level of subject-related knowledge | 31 (84) |
| Objectivity | Whether a source or information presents facts that are not influenced by personal feelings or commercial interests | 30 (81) |
| Transparency | Whether important information that influences a user’s ability to make informed choices (eg, motivation of a site or owner contact information) are disclosed | 21 (57) |
| Popularity | Whether a source or information appears in multiple venues or is received or accepted by a large number of people (eg, ranked high in search engines or followed or accepted by the crowd in social media) | 19 (51) |
| Understandability | Whether a source or information is in appropriate depth, quantity, and specificity and error free | 18 (49) |
| Relevance | Whether information is relevant to the topic of interest or to information seekers’ situation and background | 15 (41) |
| Familiarity | How familiar the source is to an individual | 14 (38) |
| Accessibility | Whether a source is easy to access and stable | 14 (38) |
| Identification | Whether a source or information conforms to an individual’s identity, goals, styles, arguments, or objectives [62]. | 13 (35) |
| Believability | Whether information is logical and can be believed | 12 (32) |
| Accuracy | Whether a source or information is consistent with agreed-upon scientific findings | 12 (32) |
| Readability | Whether information is presented in a form that is easy to read (eg, concise and clear layout) | 10 (27) |
| Currency | Whether a source or information is up to date | 10 (27) |
| Navigability | Whether a source or information is organized in a way that is easy to navigate | 9 (24) |
| Aesthetics | Whether the appearance of the interface is visually pleasing | 9 (24) |
| Interactivity | Whether a source offers sufficient functions to allow users to interact with the source | 9 (24) |
| Comprehensiveness | Whether a source or information covers a wide range of topics or offers different interaction features (eg, shopping, socializing, and researching) | 8 (22) |
| Practicality | Whether information can be readily applied by an individual (eg, personal advice and experience) | 8 (22) |
| Completeness | Whether necessary or expected aspects of a subject/topic are provided | 7 (19) |
| Usefulness | Whether the amount, depth, or specificity of a source or information are at an appropriate level that can be used by an individual | 7 (19) |
| Balanced | Whether different perspectives concerning a topic or both pros and cons concerning a treatment are provided | 6 (16) |
| Anonymity | Whether a source can be used without forcing users to provide personal information | 3 (8) |
| Security | Whether a source is able to prevent malicious attacks (eg, virus) | 2 (5) |
| Learnability | Whether information can satisfy different learning needs (eg, people with different levels of knowledge) | 2 (5) |