How Qualified is Online Information Regarding Space Maintainers? A Content-quality and Readability Analysis

Purpose: To evaluate the reliability, quality, and readability of information regarding space maintainers on English websites using different scales.Materials and Methods: The selected search terms 'space maintainer', 'band and loop', 'distal shoe sp...

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Main Author: Semih Ercan Akgün
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ankara University 2024-08-01
Series:European Annals of Dental Sciences
Online Access:https://dergipark.org.tr/en/doi/10.52037/eads.2024.0012
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author Semih Ercan Akgün
author_facet Semih Ercan Akgün
author_sort Semih Ercan Akgün
collection DOAJ
description Purpose: To evaluate the reliability, quality, and readability of information regarding space maintainers on English websites using different scales.Materials and Methods: The selected search terms 'space maintainer', 'band and loop', 'distal shoe space maintainer', 'nance appliance', and 'lingual arch' were searched by four search engines (Yahoo, Bing, Yandex, and Google), and 992 websites were recorded. The websites were evaluated using the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), Quality Criteria for Consumer Health Information (DISCERN), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) instruments.Results: Among the 90 websites included in the study, Professional Health Organization (PHO) websites had significantly higher DISCERN scores in all sections and total (p<0.05) compared to other websites. There were no significant differences between websites regarding FKGL and FRES scores (p>0.05). Only 3 (3.3%) provided all JAMA criteria and PHO websites scored significantly higher than the others in almost all categories (p<0.05).Conclusions: Within the limitation of this study, web-based information regarding pediatric space maintainers was inadequate and scientifically imperfect. It is helpful to publish quality websites that contain reliable, high-quality information, and easy to understand by the patient Keywords: Internet, space maintainers, information, quality
format Article
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institution Kabale University
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spelling doaj-art-9ba1570e7021460ba547ebfc553961572025-01-17T11:29:16ZengAnkara UniversityEuropean Annals of Dental Sciences2757-67442024-08-01512434810.52037/eads.2024.0012 How Qualified is Online Information Regarding Space Maintainers? A Content-quality and Readability Analysis Semih Ercan Akgün0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7266-8593Ministry of Health, Bafra Oral and Dental Health Hospital Purpose: To evaluate the reliability, quality, and readability of information regarding space maintainers on English websites using different scales.Materials and Methods: The selected search terms 'space maintainer', 'band and loop', 'distal shoe space maintainer', 'nance appliance', and 'lingual arch' were searched by four search engines (Yahoo, Bing, Yandex, and Google), and 992 websites were recorded. The websites were evaluated using the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), Quality Criteria for Consumer Health Information (DISCERN), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) instruments.Results: Among the 90 websites included in the study, Professional Health Organization (PHO) websites had significantly higher DISCERN scores in all sections and total (p<0.05) compared to other websites. There were no significant differences between websites regarding FKGL and FRES scores (p>0.05). Only 3 (3.3%) provided all JAMA criteria and PHO websites scored significantly higher than the others in almost all categories (p<0.05).Conclusions: Within the limitation of this study, web-based information regarding pediatric space maintainers was inadequate and scientifically imperfect. It is helpful to publish quality websites that contain reliable, high-quality information, and easy to understand by the patient Keywords: Internet, space maintainers, information, qualityhttps://dergipark.org.tr/en/doi/10.52037/eads.2024.0012
spellingShingle Semih Ercan Akgün
How Qualified is Online Information Regarding Space Maintainers? A Content-quality and Readability Analysis
European Annals of Dental Sciences
title How Qualified is Online Information Regarding Space Maintainers? A Content-quality and Readability Analysis
title_full How Qualified is Online Information Regarding Space Maintainers? A Content-quality and Readability Analysis
title_fullStr How Qualified is Online Information Regarding Space Maintainers? A Content-quality and Readability Analysis
title_full_unstemmed How Qualified is Online Information Regarding Space Maintainers? A Content-quality and Readability Analysis
title_short How Qualified is Online Information Regarding Space Maintainers? A Content-quality and Readability Analysis
title_sort how qualified is online information regarding space maintainers a content quality and readability analysis
url https://dergipark.org.tr/en/doi/10.52037/eads.2024.0012
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