Health information and interaction on the internet: a survey of female urinary incontinence

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the internet as a source of information about urinary incontinence and to explore interactive facilities. Design: Limited survey of internet resources. Subjects: 75 websites providing information about incontinence and an opportunity for interactivity, 25 web doctors, and two news groups. Main outcome measures: Quality scores according to predefined general and specific criteria. Internet popularity indexes according to number of links to websites. Correlation between quality scores and popularity indexes. Results: Few sites provided comprehensive information, but the information actually provided was mostly correct. Internet popularity indexes did not correlate with quality scores. The most informative site was easily found with general internet search engines but was not found in any of the medical index sites investigated. Sixty six per cent of sites responded to an email request for advice from a fictitious incontinent woman, half of them within 24 hours. Twelve responders provided vital information that the woman might suffer from drug induced incontinence. Conclusions: Excellent information about urinary incontinence was found on the internet, but the number of links to a site did not reflect quality of content. Patients may get valuable advice and comfort from using interactive services. Key messages The internet has become a major source for health information, but its usefulness is largely unknown In this study a fictitious story of an incontinent woman was used to evaluate the internet as a source of information about urinary incontinence and to explore interactive facilities Excellent information could be found on the web The number of links to a site was not an indication of the quality of its contents, and medical index sites had no record of the best quality site that was found by general search engines Useful medical advice was rapidly obtained through interactive services (email, news)