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

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Correlations between the credibility score and Google ranks versus completeness and accuracy scores of websites presenting information about healthcare-associated infections in English, Romanian, and Hungarian language

Independent variable	Dependent variable	Spearman rho	P-value
Credibility score	Completeness score	0.273	0.0176
	Accuracy score	0.365	0.0016
Google rank	Completeness score	−0.112	0.3389
	Accuracy score	−0.168	0.158

The number (n) and relative frequencies (%) of the websites presenting information about healthcare-associated infections by general characteristics and language

General Characteristics	Language of the websites
	English (N=25)	Romanian (N=25)	Hungarian (N=25)	Total (N=75)
Specialization
Single medical specialty, n (%)	8 (32.0)	6 (24.0)	7 (28.0)	21 (28.0)
Multiple medical specialties, n (%)	17 (68.0)	19 (76.0)	18 (72.0)	54 (72.0)
Website ownership
Foundation, NGO, n (%)	9 (36.0)	4 (16.0)	3 (12.0)	16 (21.0)
Private or state health care provider, n (%)	2 (8.0)	3 (12.0)	4 (16.0)	9 (12.0)
Commercial company, n (%)	7 (28.0)	16 (64.0)	13 (52.0)	36 (48.0)
Medical product manufacturer/distributor, n (%)	3 (12.0)	2 (8.0)	2 (8.0)	7 (9.3)
Educational or research institution, n (%)	4 (16)	0	1 (4)	5 (6.7)
Unidentifiable, n (%)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	2 (8.0)	2 (2.7)
Main purpose
Educational, n (%)	18 (72.0)	17 (68.0)	19 (76.0)	54 (72.0)
Commercial, n (%)	6 (24.0)	6 (24.0)	5 (20.0)	17 (22.7)
Socialization or support, n (%)	1 (4.0)	2 (8.0)	1 (4.0)	4 (5.3)
Website format
Thematic, n (%)	6 (24.0)	2 (8.0)	4 (16.0)	12 (16.0)
General portal, n (%)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	2 (8.0)	2 (2.7)
Medical portal, n (%)	7 (28.0)	1 (4.0)	4 (16.0)	12 (16.0)
Electronic publication, n (%)	2 (12.0)	5 (20.0)	1 (4.0)	8 (10.7)
Company presentation page, n (%)	3 (12.0)	7 (28.0)	3 (12.0)	13 (17.0)
Web-based shop, n (%)	2 (8.0)	9 (36.0)	8 (32.0)	19 (25.3)
Blog or personal page, n (%)	1 (4.0)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	1 (1.3)
Other, n (%)	4 (16.0)	1 (4.0)	3 (12.0)	8 (10.7)
Medical paradigm
Conventional medicine, n (%)	25 (100.0)	4 (16.0)	3 (12.0)	32 (42.7)
Alternative medicine, n (%)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	2 (8.0)	2 (2.7)
Mixed approach, n (%)	0 (0.0)	3 (12.0)	3 (12.0)	6 (8.0)
Unidentifiable, n (%)	0 (0.0)	18 (72.0)	17 (68.0)	35 (46.7)

Prevalence of websites about healthcare-associated infections complying with the individual credibility criteria

Criteria	English subsample (%)	Romanian subsample (%)	Hungarian subsample (%)	Whole sample (%)
Owner name and address	100	84	100	95
Mission statement	100	96	68	88
Consultation disclaimer	44	4	20	23
Disclosure of funding	52	16	40	36
Disclosure of commercial interest	80	8	4	31
Confidentiality statement	92	60	60	71
Providing contact mechanism	96	92	96	95
Authors’ credentials	44	36	32	37
Referencing sources	40	16	16	24
Display publication date	24	88	84	65
Displaying the date of last update	40	24	24	29
Quality procedure statement	32	12	12	19

The mean values and SDs of the credibility, completeness, and accuracy scores by the websites’ general characteristics

General characteristics		Credibility, mean (SD)	P-value	Completeness, mean (SD)	P-value	Accuracy, mean (SD)	P-value
Topic	Single	4.7 (1.8)	0.21a	2.4 (1.7)	0.920a	5.8 (0.8)	0.423a
	Multiple	5.3 (1.9)		2.4 (1.9)		6.0 (1.3)
Owner	NGO	5.9 (1.5)	0.1526b	2.9 (1.7)	0.6b	6.3 (0.9)	0.1573b
	Health service provider	4.9 (2.2)		2.1 (1.5)		5.9 (1.0)
	Commercial company	4.8 (1.9)		2.3 (1.9)		5.6 (1.2)
	Other	5.5 (1.7)		2.6 (2.4)		6.5 (1.4)
Goal	Educational or networking	5.3 (2.0)	0.0533a	2.5 (1.9)	0.6033a	6.0 (1.3)	0.1487a
	Commercial	4.3 (1.3)		2.2 (1.6)		5.7 (0.8)
Website type	Topic-based content	5.9 (1.6)	0.0008b	2.5 (2.1)	0.0586b	6.7 (1.1)	0.0113b
	Medical portal	6.7 (1.4)		3.1 (2.0)		5.9 (0.8)
	Company promotion	3.8 (1.3)		2.5 (1.7)		5.7 (0.7)
	Online shop	4.4 (1.4)		1.4 (1.4)		5.3 (1.5)
	Other	5.2 (2.2)		2.9 (1.7)		6.3 (1.0)
Medical paradigm	Conventional	6.0 (1.8)	<0.0001a	3.3 (1.8)	<0.0001a	6.4 (1.1)	0.005a
	Alternative and other	4.4 (1.7)		1.7 (1.5)		5.6 (1.1)