JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Background:

The public perception of driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) is not consistent with current evidence. The Internet is an influential source that most people use to find information about cannabis.

Objective:

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the quality, readability, and accuracy of information about DUIC found on the Internet using the Google Canada search engine.

Methods:

Methods:

A quantitative content analysis of top Google search webpages was conducted to analyze the information available to the public about DUIC. Google searches were performed using keywords about DUIC and the first 20 pages were collected from each search. Web pages were eligible if they had text on cannabis and driving in English, available during analysis and accessible without a fee. We assessed 1) quality of information using the Quality Evaluation Scoring Tool (QUEST) and the presence of the Health on the Net (HON) code, 2) readability using the Gunning Fox Index (GFI), Flesch Reading Ease Scale (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) scores, and 3) accuracy of five key topics (effects of cannabis consumption, prevalence of DUIC, DUIC effects on driving ability, risk of collision, and detection by law enforcement) using an adapted version of the 5Cs website evaluation tool.

Results:

Results:

120 webpages were identified, 82 were included in the data analysis after applying the eligibility criteria. The overall average QUEST score for all web pages was 17.4 out of a total of 28 (SD=5.6) ranging from 7 to 27. The average Quest score by category type ranged from 10.0 (SD=2.5) to 26.3 (SD=0.6) depending on the source. The average readability scores were 9.7 (SD=2.3) for FKGL, 11.4 (SD=2.9) for GFI, 12.2 (SD=1.9) for SMOG index, and 49.9 (SD=12.3) for FRES. The readability scores demonstrated that 9.8 to 19.5% of web pages were considered readable by the public depending on the readability method used. The accuracy results showed that 71% of web pages did not have information on the effect of cannabis and 61% for the prevalence of cannabis consumption, while 62% provided accurate information on the effect of cannabis on driving.

Conclusions:

Conclusion: The information found on Google Canada about DUIC has low readability for the general public and varying quality depending on the source. Most of the information presented was accurate, except for very few inaccurate and mixed accuracy statements related to the risk of collision and detection by law. Although most of the presented information was accurate, many web pages did not present any information on certain topics. Different stakeholders and health advocacy groups should consider health literacy of the public when creating content to educate the public on this topic as content with low readability can be open to misinterpretation.