Title: Comparative study of health information on the internet about caries, halitosis and mononucleosis
Abstract:
Internet search engines can be an important source for patients to access information online related to oral health, but little is known about the evaluation of health information on the worldwide WEB. Aim: To evaluate information on caries, halitosis and mononucleosis. The content trends of oral health information on the internet and obtain qualitative and quantitative data to generate hypotheses about what patients research and evaluate this information. Method: Three search engines were selected, Google (Portugal), Bing and yahoo (in portuguese) by evaluating the 10 results of the first page of each. Data was collected over a period of 48 hours and analyzed comparatively to the scientific information "based on Level of evidence of Oxford", clinical, operative and preventive content about the three pathologies. And arranged by the descriptive method. Results: Google is the most accessed and Yahoo is the only one among the 3, which has a site dedicated to oral health publications. A concordance of approximately 30% to 50% of the sites was found and most presented content information in current language. Among them, it is probably a concern to realize that only 1 site out of 90 analyzed, presented level 1 of scientific evidence, related to caries. Generally, the sites had explanatory content, with the current and simplified language, on the themes. But it is necessary to adapt the scientific evidence to everyday life. Conclusion: Scientifically based information improves the quality of what is read by users so it is necessary to check health websites because the internet is also a form of public health promotion.
Keywords: Health information; Internet; Mononucleosis; Caries; Halitosis; Public health.
