Does The Internet Provide Enough Information About Sepsis for The General Public

Aim: To determine the quality and reliability of the information about sepsis on the internet. Methods: The quality and reliability of the information on the websites accessed through the most frequently searched words about sepsis were evaluated with the JAMA Benchmark Criteria and the DISCERN scoring system. Data accuracy was compared with the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines. Results: The search terms used resulted most frequently (36,5%) in information from private hospitals. Only 4 of the 63 websites related to sepsis search terms met all 4 JAMA criteria. The JAMA Benchmark score was found to be median 21.18 (min:0-max:4). Of the websites, 74.6% showed an update date. Only 31.7% of the websites examined had expert or author information. The mean DISCERN score was calculated as 368.51 (min 16-max 59). According to these results, the quality and reliability of internetsourced information on sepsis was poor. Conclusions: The quality and reliability of information about sepsis and related search terms on the Internet were low. It was concluded that public institutions and academic institutions should play a more active role in providing patients with accurate information.