JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Patients and families who have experienced delirium may seek information about delirium online, but the quality and reliability of online delirium information are unknown.

Objective:

The objective of this study is to identify and evaluate websites on delirium that could be used for patient and family education.

Methods:

We searched Bing, Google, and Yahoo using the keywords “delirium” and the misspelled “delerium” to identify websites created to inform patients, families, and members of the public about delirium. The quality of identified websites was evaluated by two authors using the presence of the Health on the Net (HON) accreditation, the validated DISCERN tool, and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria. Readability was assessed with the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, the Flesch Reading Ease score, and Flesch Kincaid grade level. Each website was evaluated for delirium content using a checklist of items co-designed by our team with patients, families, researchers, and clinicians.

Results:

We identified 71 websites targeted towards patients and families, most of which were commercial websites (21/71, 30%) or from a foundation or advocacy group (17/71, 24%). Only 28% (20/71) of the websites had received HON accreditation. The median time since last website update was 3.0 years (IQR 1.7-6.1). Most websites (67/71, 94%) were written at a reading level higher than the recommended grade six level. The median DISCERN total score and JAMA benchmark score were 41 (IQR 34.42-46.67) and 1 (IQR 1-2), respectively, indicating the quality of websites was fair, with poor transparency.

Conclusions:

We identified high-quality websites that can be used to educate patients, families, or the public about delirium. The current study also provides strategies to inform the creation of high-quality, reliable websites for delirium education for patients, families, and the public.