Author(s)
Michael E. Nissan, BS
Amar Gupta, MD
Hani Rayess, MD
Kevin Z. Black, BS
Michael A. Carron, MD
Affiliation(s)
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Abstract:
IntroductionPhysicians should be aware of websites and videos available online regarding sinus surgery in order to provide quality care. This study analyzes authorships, reliability, quality, and readability of websites; as well as the authorships and primary objectives of videos regarding sinus surgery.MethodsA Google search was performed, and the first five pages of results were included in this study. Websites were categorized by authorship (physician, patient, academic, or unaffiliated) and analyzed using the validated DISCERN instrument for reliability and quality, as well as various other instruments to measure readability. A Youtube search was also conducted, and the first 50 relevant videos were included in the study. These videos were categorized by authorship and primary objective.ResultsWebsite authorships were physician and academic-dominated. Reliability and overall DISCERN score differ between the four authorship groups by a statistically significant margin (Kruskall-Wallis test, p < 0.05). Unaffiliated websites were the most reliable and had the highest overall score while patient/community websites were least reliable and had the lowest overall score. Readability did not differ significantly between the groups, though the readability measurements showed a general lack of material easily readable by the general public. Youtube was dominated by physician-authored videos. The majority of physician-authored and unaffiliated videos sought to inform, while the majority of patient-authored videos sought mainly to provide the perspective of the patient.ConclusionsProfessional organizations such as the AAO—HNS should publish more understandable, readily-accessible websites and videos targeted to the general public regarding sinus surgery.