Background The use of the Internet to access healthcare-related information is increasing day by day. However, there are concerns regarding the reliability and comprehensibility of this information. This study aimed to investigate the readability, reliability, and quality of Internet-based patient educational materials (PEM) related to “post-COVID-19 pain.” Methods One-hundred websites that fit the purposes of the study were identified by searching for the terms “post-COVID-19 pain” and “pain after COVID-19” using the Google search engine on February 24, 2022. The website readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), and Gunning FOG (GFOG). The reliability, quality, and popularity of the websites were assessed using the JAMA score, DISCERN score/Health on the Net Foundation code of conduct, and Alexa, respectively. Results Upon investigation of the textual contents, the mean FRES was 51.40 ± 10.65 (difficult), the mean FKGL and SMOG were 10.93 ± 2.17 and 9.83 ± 1.66 years, respectively, and the mean GFOG was 13.14 ± 2.16 (very difficult). Furthermore, 24.5% of the websites were highly reliable according to JAMA scores, 8% were of high quality according to GQS values, and 10% were HONcode-compliant. There was a statistically significant difference between the website types and reliability (p = 0.003) and quality scores (p = 0.002). Conclusion The readability level of PEM on post-COVID-19 pain was considerably higher than grade 6 educational level, as recommended by the National Institutes of Health, and had low reliability and poor quality. We suggest that Internet-based PEM should have a certain degree of readability that is in accordance with the educational level of the general public and feature reliable content.

There are concerns over the reliability and comprehensibility of health-related information on the internet. The goal of our research was to analyze the readability, reliability, and quality of information obtained from websites associated with Behçet’s disease (BD). On September 20, 2021, the term BD was used to perform a search on Google, and 100 eligible websites were identified. The Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and Gunning Fog (GFOG) were used to evaluate the readability of the website. The JAMA score was used to assess the websites’ reliability, the DISCERN score and the Health on the Net Foundation code of conduct (HONcode) were used to assess quality, and Alexa was used to analyze their popularity. Sections of the text were evaluated, and the results revealed that the mean FRES was 35.49±14.42 (difficult) and the mean GFOG was 14.93±3.13 years (very difficult). According to the JAMA scores, 36% of the websites had a high reliability rating and 20% adhered to the HONcode. The readability was found to significantly differ from the reliability of the websites (p<0.05). Moreover, websites with scientific content were found to have higher readability and reliability (p<0.05). The readability of BD-related information on the Internet was found to be considerably higher than that recommended by the National Health Institute’s Grade 6, with moderate reliability and good quality. We believe that online information should have some level of readability and must have reliable content that is appropriate to educate the public, particularly for websites that provide with patient education material.

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Background The use of the internet as a source of information has increased during the pandemic, and YouTube has become an increasingly important source of information on Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In the long COVID picture, which occurs when symptoms related to COVID-19 last longer than 1 month, pain involving the musculoskeletal system affects the quality of life quite negatively. The aim of this study was to investigate the informational value and quality of YouTube videos related to post-COVID pain. Methods In this study, 180 videos were listed using the search terms “pain after COVID,” “post-COVID pain,” and “long COVID and pain”(15 April 2022). Videos were classified according to video parameters and content analysis. Quality, reliability and accuracy of the videos were determined with the Global Quality Score (GQS), the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark Criteria and the Modified DISCERN Questionnaire, respectively. Results One hundred videos that met the inclusion criteria were included in the assessment. Of these videos, 74 were found to be of low quality, 14 of moderate quality, and 12 of high quality; 21% contained insufficient data, 73% contained partially sufficient data, and 6% contained completely sufficient data. Videos uploaded by academic sources (66.7%) and physicians (12.5%) made up the majority of the high-quality group. A statistically significant correlation was found between the source of upload and number of views (p = 0.014), likes (p = 0.030), comments (p = 0.007), and video duration (p = 0.004). Video duration was found to have a poor positive correlation with GQS (r = 0.500), JAMA (r = 0.528), and modified DISCERN (r = 0.470) scores (p < 0.001). Conclusion The findings of this study revealed that the majority of YouTube videos on post-COVID pain had low quality and partially sufficient data. High-quality videos were found to have longer durations and were uploaded by academic sources and physicians. The fact that only videos with English content at a certain time can be counted among the limitations. For patients suffering from post-COVID pain whose access to healthcare services was interrupted during the COVID pandemic, YouTube can be considered as an alternative source as well as a means of telerehabilitation. It can be argued that higher quality videos created by healthcare professionals could aid in patient education in the future.

Ankylosing spondylitis is a global health problem. There are continuous innovations in terms of etiopathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment. Here, the top 100 most cited articles on ankylosing spondylitis during the last three decades are analyzed. On April 6, 2020, the Web of Science was screened from 1984 to 2020 using the terms ankylosing spondylitis; the top 100 most cited articles were identified. For bibliometric analysis, the name of the article, year of publication, author information, number of citations, name of the publishing journal, H-index, impact factor, countries of the authors, types of articles, and funding sources were recorded. The Altmetric attention was recorded using a program that automatically calculates the score. The total number of citations of the articles in the list ranged from 176 to 3700. Arthritis and Rheumatism (n=31) and Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (n=27) were the two leading journals in which the majority of the articles were published. Germany produced most of the articles; Braun J was the most cited author. Randomized controlled clinical trials were found to constitute most of the articles (n=35). According to the citation number, studies evaluating classification criteria and disease activity indices and, according to the Altmetric Attention Score, studies addressing the prevalence and biological agents were prominent. We present a perspective on the extent to which the most cited articles on ankylosing spondylitis draw interest in the scientific community and on social media platforms.

Amaç: Sağlık ile ilişkili bilgilere ulaşmak için internet kullanımı günden güne artmaktadır. Ancak bu bilgilerin güvenilirliği ve anlaşılırlığı üzerinde endişeler bulunmaktadır. Çalışmamızda bel ağrısı ile ilgili internet kaynaklı Hasta Eğitim Materyallerinin (HEM) okunabilirliğini, güvenilirliğini ve kalitesini araştırmayı amaçladık. Gereç ve Yöntem: 26 Şubat 2022’de Google arama motorunda “Bel ağrısı” terimi aratılarak çalışma için uygun ilk 100 internet sitesi tespit edildi. İnternet-sitelerinin okunabilirlikleri Ateşman okunabilirlik formülüyle değerlendirildi. İnternet-sitelerinin güvenilirlikleri “Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark” kriter skoru ile, kalite değerlendirmesi DISCERN skoru ve “Health on the Net Foundation code of conduct (HONcode)” varlığı ve popüleritesi ise ALEXA ile değerlendirildi. Bulgular: Çalışmamızda metin bölümleri incelendiğinde ortalama Ateşman okunabilirlik skorunun 61,09±7,31 (orta güçlükte) olduğu tespit edilmiştir. JAMA skorları ortalama değeri 1,46±0,91 (düşük güvenilir) ve internet sitelerinin %12’si yüksek güvenilir tespit edilmiştir. Ortalama DISCERN skoru 34,08±11,74 (kötü kalite) tespit edilmiştir. %17 internet sitesinde HONcode varlığı tespit edilmiştir. İnternet sitelerin kaynakları ile güvenilirlik ve kalite skorları arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklılık tespit edilmemiştir (p>0,05). Sonuç: Bel ağrısı ile ilişkili Türkçe internet kaynaklı HEM’nin okunabilirlik düzeyinin orta güçlükte olduğu, düşük güvenilirlik ve kötü kalite içerdiği saptandı. İnternet siteleri hazırlanırken internet kaynaklı HEM’nin halkın eğitim düzeyine uygun okunabilirlik derecesine ve güvenilir içeriğe sahip olması gerektiğini düşünmekteyiz.

Increasing digitization also raises concerns regarding the reliability and comprehensibility of online health information. In this study, we aimed to examine the readability, reliability, and quality of internet-based patient education materials on “transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.” On September 15, 2022, we used Google search engine to search the keyword “Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation” and obtained information from 200 websites. The readability of the websites was evaluated using the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, and Gunning Fog. The Journal of American Medical Association score and Health on the Net Foundation code of conduct were used to determine the reliability of the websites, whereas the DISCERN score and Global Quality Score were used to evaluate the quality of the websites. In the readability analysis of 102 websites that met the inclusion criteria of this study, we found that the Flesch Reading Ease Score was 47.91 ± 13.79 (difficult), average Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook were 11.20 ± 2.85 and 10.53 ± 2.11 years, respectively, and average Gunning Fog score was 14.04 ± 2.74 (very difficult). Commercial websites constituted the highest proportion of websites (n = 36, 35.5%). Overall, 16.7% of the websites were found to be of high quality according to the Global Quality Score, 16 (15.7%) websites had Health on the Net Foundation code of conduct certification, and 8.8% of the websites were found to be highly reliable according to the Journal of American Medical Association scores. There was a statistically significant difference between website typologies and quality and reliability scores ( P < .001). Compared with the sixth-grade level recommended by the American Medical Association and the National Institute of Health, the readability of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation-related internet-based patient education materials was considerably high, but they showed low reliability and moderate-to-poor quality. Thus, the quality, reliability, and readability of websites developed by health professionals play a major role in conveying accurate and easily understandable information.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the superiority of different exercise modalities, including isotonic and isometric strengthening for quadriceps, over each other and their effect on pain, quality of life and functional capacity in patients diagnosed with chondromalacia patellae (CMP). Methods: This study was designed as a prospective study in 30 patients(15 patients in isometric, 15 patients in isotonic group) and 15 healthy volunteers aged 20–50 years who were diagnosed with CMP based on physical examination and magnetic resonance imaging and had pain complaints. Pain level was evaluated with Visual Analogue Scala (VAS), functional capacity with Lysholm scale, and quality of life with Short Form-36(SF-36). Q-angle, and thigh circumference were evaluated before and after exercise in all patients. Results: In patients with CMP, there were significant differences in Q-angle, pain, functional capacity, and some subcomponents of the SF-36 quality of life after performing isometric or isotonic exercises compared with the control group (p0,05). In the evaluation of the isotonic and isometric exercise groups, there were no significant difference in the assessment of Q-angle, thigh circumference, pain, functional capacity, and quality of life of patients with CMP (p>0,05). Conclusion: Isometric and isotonic quadriceps strengthening exercises are not superior to each other in terms of pain, functional capacity, and quality of life in CMP treatment.