The Current Quality of Web-Based Information on the Treatment of Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Search

Abstract

Background: An important aspect of managing chronic disorders like bipolar disorder is to have access to relevant health information. This study investigates and compares the quality of information on the treatments of bipolar disorder that is available on English websites, as an international language, and on Italian websites, as a popular local language. Methods: A systematic review search was obtained from four search engines. We excluded unrelated materials, scientific papers, and duplicates. We analyzed popularity with PageRank; technological quality with Nibbler; readability with the Flesh Reading Ease test and Gulpease index; quality of information with the DISCERN scale, the JAMA benchmark criteria, and on the extent of adherence to the HONCode. Results: 35 English and 31 Italian websites were included. The English websites were found to have a higher level of quality information and technological quality than the Italian ones. Overall, the websites were found to be difficult to read, requiring a high level of education. Conclusions: These results can be important to inform guidelines for the improvement of health information and help users to reach a higher level of evidence on the websites. Users should find the benefits of treatment, support for shared decision-making, the sources used, the medical editor's supervision, and the risk of postponing treatment.

Keywords: bipolar disorder; health literacy; information dissemination; quality; treatment.

Figure 1

PRISMA Flow diagram of search results.

Figure 2

Distribution of the adherence to the JAMA benchmark criteria in Italian and English websites.

Figure 3

Distribution of DISCERN-scores combined and averaged across English websites (1 = low, 5 = high). Adapted from Charnock et al. [72].

Figure 4

Distribution of DISCERN-scores combined and averaged across Italian websites (1 = low, 5 = high). Adapted from Charnock et al. [72].