Table 2.
DISCERN instrument ratings
| Section | SECTION 1 Is the publication reliable? | SECTION 2 How good is the quality of information on treatment choices? | SECTION 3 Overall Rating of the Publication | HONcode Search | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DISCERN Question | Website Category: Health Portal (HP), Professional (Prof), Online TV (OTV), Government (Gov), Online Magazine (OM) | 1. Are the aims clear? | 2. Does it achieve its aims? | 3. Is it relevant? | 4. Is it clear what sources of information were used to compile the publication (other than the author or producer)? | 5. Is it clear when the information used or reported in the publication was produced? | 6. Is it balanced and unbiased? | 7. Does it provide details of additional sources of support and information? | 8. Does it refer to areas of uncertainty? | 9. Does it describe how each treatment works? | 10.Does it describe the benefits of each treatment? | 11. Does it describe the risks of each treatment? | 12. Does it describe what would happen if no treatment is used? | 13. Does it describe how the treatment choices affect overall quality of life? | 14. Is it clear that there may be more than one possible treatment choice? | 15. Does it provide support for shared decision-making? | 16. Based on the answers to all of the above questions, rate the overall quality of the publication as a source of information about treatment choices | Standard Deviation of Overall Score (Q16) | DISCERN Score (Sum of Q1-Q15) | Is it certified by HONcode (Yes/No) | |
| WebMD | https://www.webmd.com | HP | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 4.50 | 4.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 0.00 | 69.00 | Yes |
| Diabetes Self Management | https://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com | HP | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 1.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 3.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 3.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 0.71 | 67.50 | Yes |
| Diabetes.co.uk | https://www.diabetes.co.uk | HP | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 3.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 3.00 | 4.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 0.71 | 66.50 | No |
| Very Well Health | https://www.verywellhealth.com | HP | 4.50 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 3.00 | 4.50 | 2.50 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 65.00 | Yes |
| University of Minnesota | https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu | Prof | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 3.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 3.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 65.00 | Yes |
| Diabetes in Control | http://www.diabetesincontrol.com | Prof | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 2.50 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 4.00 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 4.50 | 0.71 | 65.00 | No |
| Medical News Today | https://www.medicalnewstoday.com | HP | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 3.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 1.50 | 2.50 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 64.50 | Yes |
| EndocrineWeb | https://www.endocrineweb.com | Prof | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 4.00 | 5.00 | 2.50 | 2.50 | 3.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 0.71 | 63.50 | Yes |
| Everyday Health | https://www.everydayhealth.com | HP | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 3.50 | 5.00 | 3.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 63.00 | Yes |
| Healthline | https://www.healthline.com | HP | 5.00 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 4.00 | 4.50 | 3.50 | 4.00 | 3.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 3.00 | 1.50 | 3.50 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 61.00 | Yes |
| Totally Health | https://www.totallyhealth.com | HP | 5.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 60.00 | No |
| Diabetes Australia | https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au | Prof | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 1.50 | 4.00 | 3.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 2.50 | 2.50 | 3.50 | 2.50 | 4.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 0.71 | 57.50 | No |
| Endocrinology Network | https://www.endocrinologynetwork.com | Prof | 2.50 | 2.50 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 1.50 | 2.50 | 5.00 | 1.50 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 57.00 | No |
| Dr.Axe | https://draxe.com | Prof | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 3.00 | 3.50 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 2.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 3.50 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 1.50 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 56.50 | No |
| Chelation | https://chelation.me | Other | 1.00 | N/A | 4.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 56.50 | No |
| University of Rochester Medical Centre | https://www.urmc.rochester.edu | Prof | 3.50 | 4.50 | 4.00 | 1.50 | 2.00 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 56.00 | No |
| Stamford Health | https://www.stamfordhealth.org | Prof | 5.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 1.50 | 4.50 | 3.50 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 3.00 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 2.50 | 2.50 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 54.00 | No |
| On Track Diabetes | https://www.ontrackdiabetes.com | HP | 3.50 | 4.50 | 4.00 | 3.00 | 4.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.50 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.50 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 0.71 | 52.50 | No |
| Conscious Lifestyle Magazine | https://www.consciouslifestylemag.com | OM | 2.50 | 2.00 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 3.50 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 1.50 | 3.50 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 49.50 | No |
| Today’s Dietitian | https://www.todaysdietitian.com | OM | 2.50 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 3.50 | 4.00 | 2.50 | 2.50 | 3.00 | 2.50 | 2.00 | 1.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 48.00 | No |
| Institute for Natural Medicine | https://naturemed.org | HP | 5.00 | 4.00 | 4.50 | 5.00 | 2.50 | 3.50 | 4.50 | 1.00 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 1.00 | 3.00 | 1.50 | 2.50 | 4.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 45.00 | No |
| Practo | https://www.practo.com | HP | 3.50 | 3.50 | 4.00 | 1.50 | 2.5 | 2.50 | 3.50 | 1.50 | 2.50 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 1.00 | 2.50 | 4.50 | 2.50 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 41.50 | No |
| Diabetic Nation | https://diabeticnation.com | HP | 1.00 | N/A | 4.50 | 1.50 | 3.00 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 3.00 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 41.50 | No |
| Alt-Med | http://www.alt-med.org | Prof | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.50 | 1.50 | 1.00 | 2.50 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 4.50 | 4.00 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 4.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 40.00 | No |
| The Health Site | https://www.thehealthsite.com | HP | 1.00 | N/A | 4.00 | 1.50 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 2.50 | 1.00 | 1.50 | 4.50 | 1.00 | 2.50 | 0.71 | 38.00 | No |
| Association of Traditional Medicine and Acupuncture UK | https://www.atcm.co.uk | Prof | 4.50 | 4.00 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 3.00 | 5.00 | 1.50 | 3.50 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 38.00 | No |
| Dr. Kirsten Smith MD | https://www.drsmithnd.com | Prof | 2.00 | 2.00 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 1.00 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 1.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 1.00 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 35.00 | No |
| Onyx Integrative Medicine and Aesthetics | https://onyxintegrative.com | Prof | 3.00 | 2.00 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 1.00 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 1.00 | 1.50 | 4.50 | 2.50 | 4.50 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 32.50 | No |
| Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine | https://rsnc.ca | Prof | 1.00 | N/A | 3.50 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 2.50 | 3.00 | 1.00 | 3.00 | 3.50 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 4.00 | 3.50 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 32.00 | No |
| NDTV Food | https://food.ndtv.com | OTV | 2.00 | 2.50 | 2.50 | 1.50 | 2.50 | 3.50 | 1.50 | 1.00 | 1.05 | 3.50 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 2.00 | 3.00 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 31.00 | No |
| TOTAL Means | 3.70 | 4.13 | 4.25 | 3.08 | 3.40 | 3.92 | 3.12 | 2.93 | 4.03 | 4.30 | 2.78 | 2.48 | 3.03 | 4.33 | 3.45 | 3.55 | 0.17 | 52.40 | |||
| TOTAL Standard Deviations | 1.50 | 1.09 | 0.82 | 1.61 | 1.45 | 1.03 | 1.26 | 1.50 | 1.20 | 1.06 | 1.19 | 1.19 | 0.95 | 1.01 | 1.43 | 0.86 | 0.30 | 12.10 | |||