Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep;45(9):2719-2733.
doi: 10.1007/s00268-021-06189-y. Epub 2021 Jul 7.

A Systematic Review of Online Patient Resources to Support Shared Decision Making for Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

A Musbahi  1 , N Ali  2 , L Brown  3 , S Brown  4 , Y K S Viswanath  4 , K Etherson  2 , B Gopinath  2
Affiliations

A Systematic Review of Online Patient Resources to Support Shared Decision Making for Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

A Musbahi et al. World J Surg. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Background: RCS Eng, the Royal College of Surgeons of England, has published much information with regard to the consenting process. A majority of patients seek health information through online resources as well as discussing with the care givers. Therefore, it is necessary that online material is both of high quality and reliable for patients. We aimed to evaluate the quality and standard of the online patient information on laparoscopic cholecystectomy to help in the consenting process.

Methods: A search was carried out as per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Sources were assessed using five validated scoring tools: Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease Score (readability), DISCERN and IPDAS scores (quality of content) and HONcode and the Information Standard Certification (standards of accreditation).

Results: The average readability of all websites was higher than recommended for patient literature. Less than half of the sources had received HONcode or Information Standard accreditation. On grading of quality and content, across validated scoring tools, no source achieved the minimum recommended level.

Conclusion: Online patient information related to laparoscopic cholecystectomy is of poor quality. We recommend a multidisciplinary approach to participate in publishing more readable online resources of a higher standard to help patients and clinicians in consent and shared decision making.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Shaffer EA (2006) Gallstone disease. Epidemiology of gallbladder stone disease. Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol 20(6):981–96 - DOI
    1. Stinton LM, Shaffer EA (2012) Epidemiology of gallbladder disease: cholelithiasis and cancer. Gut Liver 6(2):172–187 - DOI
    1. Bakken IJ, Skjeldestad FE, Mjaland O, Johnson E (2004) Cholecystectomy in Norway 1990–2002. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 124(18):2376–2378 - PubMed
    1. Aerts R, Penninckx F (2003) The burden of gallstone disease in Europe. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 18(Suppl 3):49–53 - DOI
    1. Royal College of Surgeons (Eng.). Consent: supported decision-making–a good practice guide. (2016)

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources