@article{ref1,
title="Concussion information online: evaluation of information quality, content and readability of concussion-related websites",
journal="British journal of sports medicine",
year="2012",
author="McCrory, Paul R. and Schneiders, Anthony G. and Sullivan, S. John and Ahmed, Osman H.",
volume="46",
number="9",
pages="675-683",
abstract="Background The internet plays an important role in the dissemination of health information to the general public. Information on orthopaedic sports medicine websites has been shown to be of a varying standard, and to date there has been no evaluation of the overall quality of concussion-related websites. Methods A four-stage methodological sampling technique was used to identify concussion-related websites. Websites were assessed for the presence of a quality standard (the HONcode), their adherence to current expert concussion knowledge using a custom-developed concussion checklist ('CONcheck'), and their readability using the established Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL). Results 43 Websites were identified from the search strategy with the majority (70%) not HONcode certified. A wide distribution of scores was seen for the CONcheck (0-22), FRE (16.3-77.4) and FKGL (6-17.8). Statistical analysis using independent t tests between websites with the HONcode and websites without the HONcode showed no significant differences between the two groups for CONcheck (t(41)=0.571, p=0.571), FRE (t(41)=0.808, p=0.424) and FKGL(t(41)=-0.964, p=0.341) scores. Conclusions The variability in the standard of concussion-related websites highlights the need for sports medicine website providers to consider the delivery, content and readability of information to the public.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0306-3674",
doi="10.1136/bjsm.2010.081620",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2010.081620"
}