TITLE:
Quality Assessment of Online Patient Education Materials for Diabetic Foot
AUTHORS:
Dana Hendie, Eyman Haj-Ali, Muhammad Candragupta Jihwaprani, Hagar Khaled, Marah Alrahal, Faisal Zain Mohammed Al-Zabidi, Nazmus Saquib, Juliann Saquib
KEYWORDS:
Diabetic Foot Disease, Diabetic Foot Ulcer, Online Resources, Patient Education, Patient Education Materials
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.12 No.9,
September
6,
2024
ABSTRACT: Background: The quality of online Arabic educational materials for diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) is unknown. This study evaluated Arabic websites as patients’ sources of information for DFS. Methods: The study assessed patient-related websites about DFS using a modified Ensuring Quality of Information for Patients (EQIP) tool (score 0 - 35). Specific terms were searched in Google to identify DFS websites; eligibility criteria were applied to 20 pages of search results to select the included websites. Data on country of origin, source types and subtypes, and website traffic were extracted. Additional therapeutic information regarding prevention and conservative, pharmacological, and surgical treatments was also recorded and analyzed. Results: Among 559 websites, 157 were eligible for inclusion. The median EQIP score was 16 out of 35, indicating poor quality in one of three domains (content, identification, or structure). Most sources originated from Arab countries (75.8%) were non-governmental (94.9%), and were medical information websites (46.5%). High-scoring websites were significantly more likely than low-scoring websites to describe information on prevention (30.9% vs. 2.9%, p = 0.001), conservative treatment (34.1% vs. 13%, p = 0.002), or pharmacological treatment (32.5% vs. 16.8%, p = 0.024). There were increased odds of scoring high if a website provided information on prevention (OR = 12.9, 95% CI [1.68 - 98.57], p = 0.014). Conclusion: Most Arabic online patient information on DFS is of poor quality. Quality control measures are needed to ensure accurate health information for the public.