Development of indicators for the evaluation of internet site for health information

Abstract

Objective : Use of Internet for health related information is rapidly increasing. There is, however, no consensus as to which information is correct and reliable. This study was conducted to develop an evaluation standards for health related information on the Internet for the purpose of delivering correct information to internet users. Methods : A Delphi technique, which involved a panel of 65 experts, was used as the research design for this study. In the first round, the initial evaluation criteria which consisted of 12 items was developed through a literature review by the researcher and the items represented 2 categories, structure and function. In the second round, a semi-structured questionnaire was sent to the experts with the initial evaluation tool and the respondents identified 55 items. In the third round, these 55 items were analyzed for content validity by the experts and a total of 35 items were included in the model; 11 items in the structural area, 24 in the functional area. Conclusions : Development of indicators for the evaluation of internet site for health information is crucial to provide correct and reliable information. For evaluation to be effective further evaluation programs need to be developed so that users can be sure that the information they received is accurate.