<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<sec><h3>Introduction</h3>
<p>Healthcare-associated infections have a significant impact on public health, and many patients and their next-of-kin are seeking information on the internet. The study aimed to assess the quality of online written content about healthcare-associated infections available in English, Romanian, and Hungarian languages.</p>
</sec>
<sec><h3>Materials and methods</h3>
<p>The study sample included 75 websites, 25 for each language subgroup. The assessment involved examining the general characteristics, adherence to established credibility criteria, and the completeness and accuracy of informational content. The evaluation was conducted using a topic-specific, evidence-based benchmark. Two evaluators independently graded completeness and accuracy; scores were recorded on a scale from 0 to 10. A comparative analysis of websites was performed, considering pertinent characteristics, and potential factors influencing information quality were subjected to testing. The statistical significance was set at 0.05.</p>
</sec>
<sec><h3>Results</h3>
<p>For the overall study sample, the average credibility, completeness, and accuracy scores were 5.1 (SD 1.7), 2.4 (SD 1.5), and 5.9 (SD 1.0), respectively. Pairwise comparison tests revealed that English websites rated significantly higher than Romanian and Hungarian websites on all three quality measures (P&lt;0.05). Website specialization, ownership, and main goal were not associated with credibility or content ratings. However, conventional medicine websites consistently scored higher than alternative medicine and other websites across all three information quality measures (P&lt;0.05). Credibility scores were positively but weakly correlated with completeness (rho=0.273; P=0.0176) and accuracy scores (rho=0.365; P=0.0016).</p>
</sec>
<sec><h3>Conclusions</h3>
<p>The overall quality ratings of information about healthcare-associated infections on English, Romanian, and Hungarian websites ranged from intermediate to low. The description of information regarding the symptoms and prevention of healthcare-associated infections was notably unsatisfactory. The study identified website characteristics possibly associated with higher-quality online sources about healthcare-associated infections, but additional research is needed to establish robust evidence.</p>
</sec>
</abstract>

Introduction
Healthcare-associated infections have a significant impact on public health, and many patients and their next-of-kin are seeking information on the internet. The study aimed to assess the quality of online written content about healthcare-associated infections available in English, Romanian, and Hungarian languages.

Materials and methods
The study sample included 75 websites, 25 for each language subgroup. The assessment involved examining the general characteristics, adherence to established credibility criteria, and the completeness and accuracy of informational content. The evaluation was conducted using a topic-specific, evidence-based benchmark. Two evaluators independently graded completeness and accuracy; scores were recorded on a scale from 0 to 10. A comparative analysis of websites was performed, considering pertinent characteristics, and potential factors influencing information quality were subjected to testing. The statistical significance was set at 0.05.

Results
For the overall study sample, the average credibility, completeness, and accuracy scores were 5.1 (SD 1.7), 2.4 (SD 1.5), and 5.9 (SD 1.0), respectively. Pairwise comparison tests revealed that English websites rated significantly higher than Romanian and Hungarian websites on all three quality measures (P<0.05). Website specialization, ownership, and main goal were not associated with credibility or content ratings. However, conventional medicine websites consistently scored higher than alternative medicine and other websites across all three information quality measures (P<0.05). Credibility scores were positively but weakly correlated with completeness (rho=0.273; P=0.0176) and accuracy scores (rho=0.365; P=0.0016).

Conclusions
The overall quality ratings of information about healthcare-associated infections on English, Romanian, and Hungarian websites ranged from intermediate to low. The description of information regarding the symptoms and prevention of healthcare-associated infections was notably unsatisfactory. The study identified website characteristics possibly associated with higher-quality online sources about healthcare-associated infections, but additional research is needed to establish robust evidence.

User’s Search for Information: A Multi-Language Cross-Sectional Assessment of Websites about Healthcare-Associated Infections

George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures

Medical Informatics and Biostatistics Department

The Journal of Critical Care Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Introduction
Healthcare-associated infections have a significant impact on public health, and many patients and their next-of-kin are seeking information on...

User’s Search for Information: A Multi-Language Cross-Sectional Assessment of Websites about Healthcare-Associated Infections

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Jan 30, 2024

Page range: 85 - 95

Received: Jan 23, 2024

Accepted: Jan 26, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jccm-2024-0011

Keywords
infodemiology, health-related information, internet, quality assessment, consumer health informatics, misinformation, nosocomial infections

© 2024 Valentin Nădășan et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

User’s Search for Information: A Multi-Language Cross-Sectional Assessment of Websites about Healthcare-Associated Infections

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Jan 30, 2024

Page range: 85 - 95

Received: Jan 23, 2024

Accepted: Jan 26, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jccm-2024-0011

Keywordsinfodemiology, health-related information, internet, quality assessment, consumer health informatics, misinformation, nosocomial infections

© 2024 Valentin Nădășan et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
infodemiology, health-related information, internet, quality assessment, consumer health informatics, misinformation, nosocomial infections