Alveolar osteitis: A qualitative and readability assessment of patient information on the Internet

Abstract

Background Data regarding the quality of online information regarding alveolar osteitis (AO) are lacking. Objective To assess the quality of online information regarding AO. Materials and Methods Two search terms (“alveolar osteitis” and “dry socket”) were entered separately into three search engines. A qualitative assessment of the websites that satisfied inclusion/exclusion criteria was carried out using the QUality Evaluation Scoring Tool (QUEST), the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks, and via the presence of the Health on the Net (HON)code seal. Website readability was evaluated using the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) and Flesch Reading Ease Score tools. Statistical analyses were performed by GraphPad Software® (GraphPad Software Inc., La Jolla, CA, U.S.). Results Most of the 31 assessed websites were from the United States (41.93%). The mean QUEST score was 14.10 out of a maximum 28 (SD = 4.63; 95% CI: 11.80–16.39). Eight (25.8%) websites scored three or all four JAMA benchmarks and four (12.9%) scored zero. Five (16.12%) displayed the HONcode seal. Higher QUEST scores were recorded for websites that satisfied at least three out of JAMA criteria (p < 0.01; 95% CI: −13.13 to −5.215) and for websites that contained the HONcode seal (p < 0.01; 95% CI: −15.000 to −5.00) compared to those that did not. The mean SMOG readability score was 8.95 (SD: 8.68; 95% CI: 8.46–9.43). Conclusions The online information regarding AO varies considerably. The readability scores exceed the recommended levels for written health information. The dental profession should consider the development of online resources that address the highlighted shortcomings.