Title : Physician bypass: Exploring google searches for gastritis
Abstract:
Introduction:Gastritis is a general form of upper abdominal pain. With its high frequency and the copious non-surgical and surgical treatment options, we believe patients are likely searching the internet for questions applicable to gastritis. No investigation has ever been completed into gastritis Google searches, therefore we sought to classify these questions as well as assess their levels of quality and transparency using Google’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
Methods:We searched Google using questions on gastritis and extracted the sources of a minimum of 200 questions for evaluation. Information transparency was assessed using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark, classification was defined using the Rothwell Classification of Questions, and information quality was assessed using Brief DISCERN.
Results Section:Our Google search returned 228 unique FAQs after removing duplicates and unrelated FAQs. The majority were classified as fact-based questions (103/228, 45.2%), followed by value (76/228, 33.3%) and policy questions (49/228, 21.5%). Most FAQs pertained to surgical treatment (127/228, 55.7%), followed by non-surgical treatment (66/228, 28.9%) and then disease process (35/228, 15.4%). The one-way analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in median quality scores among the 5 source types (H(4) = 18.97, P <.001) with medical practices (12/30) scoring the lowest compared to government (16/30), academic (16/30), and media outlet (22/30) sources which were found to have the highest.
Discussion:To increase the transparency and quality of online information regarding gastritis treatment, sources should refer to accepted standards such as JAMA Benchmark and Brief DISCERN when publishing online information.
Audience Take-Away:
- This study sought to characterize the frequently asked questions (FAQ) on gastritis from Google, categorize the sources that answer those FAQs, and assess each source for its quality and transparency.
- Physicians worldwide must be aware of the recurrent questions on gastritis and the content that is being presented to their patients, so that they may be sure that patients understand the pros and cons of gastritis treatment.
- Faculty who utilize this, especially in academia, must know that they need to increase their websites information standards to the JAMA benchmark criteria and Brief DISCERN tool. Even something simple as adding references to their website, covers areas in both the JAMA benchmark and Brief DISCERN tool, which would automatically increase scores.
- Those in private practice would also benefit from meeting these guidelines as they would be the next recommended sources aside from academic and government institutions.
