Quality of online information about sexually transmitted diseases: Which websites should patients read?

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the quality of online information about sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and determine which web sites are suitable for patients to read. Design/methodology/approach: This study evaluated the integrity, accessibility, readability, reliability, and completeness of 75 web sites providing information on one of five different types of STD. The Google AdWords Keywords Tool was used to determine the five most frequently searched STD terms: HIV, herpes, chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhoea. These five terms were then subjected to a Google search, and the first 15 web sites found for each term were evaluated. The web sites were assessed for integrity on the basis of a defined integrity score, accessibility on the basis of three levels of conformance to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, readability on the basis of the Flesch Reading Ease score and the Flesch-Kincaid grade level, reliability on the basis of the LIDA instrument, and completeness on the basis of the quality appraisal instruments developed by the authors. Findings: The results suggested that the quality of information available on different web sites is inconsistent, and the information maintained by government web sites is most appropriate for general public users in terms of integrity, accessibility, readability, reliability, and completeness. Originality/value: There are currently no studies analysing the quality of online information about STDs.