Quality Assessment of Online Information on Laryngeal Cancer: A Comparatıve Analysis of the most Visited Websites in Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Authors : Volkan Güngör, Yonca Çoluk

Pages : 199-205

View : 39 | Download : 67

Publication Date : 2025-12-20

Article Type : Other Papers

Abstract :OBJECTIVES: We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the quality of online information regarding laryngeal cancer and to compare websites from Turkey and the United Kingdom. METHODS: Websites were identified using the Google search engine with the keyword \\\"laryngeal cancer,\\\" accessed through servers located in Turkey and the United Kingdom. The first 25 eligible websites from each country were selected, and a total of 50 websites were evaluated. The DISCERN tool was used to assess the quality of the information, and two independent otorhinolaryngology specialists conducted the evaluations. Inter-observer agreement was assessed using Cohen’s kappa. Differences between Turkish and English sources were analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. RESULTS: The mean total DISCERN score was 46.13 ± 10.37 for English websites and 43.77 ± 8.97 for Turkish websites, with no statistically significant difference between the groups (p = 0.414). The overall mean score was 44.89 ± 9.75. English websites scored significantly higher on Question 1 (clarity of aims, p = 0.0052), Question 4 (disclosure of information sources, p = 0.0466), Question 7 (availability of additional support resources, p = 0.0314), and Question 12 (description of consequences of no treatment, p = 0.0097). CONCLUSIONS The quality of laryngeal cancer-related information found online was moderate and comparable between Turkish and English websites. However, persistent deficiencies in source-related transparency highlight the need for quality improvement and regulatory oversight in this domain.
Keywords : Larinks Neoplazileri, Sağlık Bilgisi, İnternet, Sağlık Hizmetlerinde Kalite, Hasta Eğitimi

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