The aim of this study was to assess the quality of online information for patients on orthognathic surgery. Materials and methods: A selection of search terms specific for orthognathic surgery was chosen and 150 websites were identified using the Internet search engines Google, Yahoo and Bing. Irrelevant websites were excluded. The remaining websites were assessed with a modified Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) tool. EQIP evaluates the quality of medical patient information by measuring the three key aspects of content, structure, and identification data. Results: 48 relevant websites were identified. EQIP values ranged between 2 and 28 (median 13.65). While 37 of the 48 websites described details of the surgical procedures, only 13 mentioned possible risks and complications of the surgery. No differences were found between the websites of private practices, dentists and public hospitals, universities, or others (p ¼ 0.66). Websites found by Google had a significantly lower EQIP score compared with Yahoo and Bing (11.12 vs. 16.60 for Yahoo and 16.23 for Bing; p ¼ 0.012). The better the rank of the website, the higher the EQIP score (r ¼ À0.411, p ¼ 0.004). Conclusions: The results of this study reflected a large variation of quality of information on orthognathic surgery on the Internet. Therefore, surgeons must be aware that they might be confronted with unrealistic expectations of patients, who may underestimate the potential risks and drawbacks of orthognathic surgery.

Purpose Palliative Care (PC) can be divided into general PC (GPC) as an integrated part of patient care in all fields of medicine and specialised PC (SPC), which is usually provided within palliative care units (PCUs) by specialised PC physicians. To date, the criteria on which patients are selected for SPC or GPC are not standardized. Such information would be vital for increasing the efficiency of the limited resource of SPC. The present study aims at identifying criteria associated with the referral to SPC in a large University hospital. Methods This retrospective single-centre study evaluated the total of 704 PC consultation requests between March 2016 and August 2020 to examine characteristics of patients who were referred to SPC at a PCU compared to those receiving GPC. To analyse criteria correlated with referral to PCU, binary logistic regression was conducted. Significant variables were then incorporated into a multivariate logistic regression model. Results The total of 704 PC consultation requests included 374 requests for a referral to SPC and 330 requests for a PC consultation, only. Of the 374 patients for whom the treating physician requested a referral to SPC, 145 (38.8%) patients were actually referred. Statistically significant factors associated with referral to SPC were the need for pain management (OR = 2.3) and nutritional advice (OR = 4.4). Conclusion Indicated triggers requiring SPC included complex symptom burdens, particularly pain and nutrition problems. Further education regarding these findings could help to ameliorate targeted use of the limited resource SPC.