[Questionnaire to evaluate health web sites according to European criteria]. / Cuestionario para evaluar sitios web sanitarios según criterios europeos.

OBJECTIVES: To design a questionnaire to evaluate compliance with quality criteria on health web sites and to analyse its reliability. DESIGN: A descriptive study on the reliability of a questionnaire. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty web sites on health topics. SETTING: Internet. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: The questionnaire was based on analysis of content of the criteria of the e-Europe 2002 code of conduct, comparing these with the criteria underlying the AMA, the Summit code and the e-Health Code of Ethics regulations and current directives. The dimensions studied were transparency, absence of conflicts of interest, authorship, data protection, updating, accountability, and accessibility. A preliminary questionnaire was drawn up for a pilot test conducted by 3 researchers for 20 web sites, its reliability was appraised, adjustments were made and the definitive questionnaire was designed. Reliability was evaluated again for 26 web sites evaluated by 3 researchers. To evaluate concordance in the answers of the participants, Cohen's Kappa index with a 95% confidence level was used. RESULTS: All the quality directives of e-Europe 2002, the European regulations and relevant points from other questionnaires were included in the questionnaire designed. Reliability was acceptable (kappa > or = 0.60) for 12 of the 18 quality criteria included. The least concordant aspects of the questionnaire were information update (kappa = 0.310) and accessibility (search for contents and access for persons with disability). CONCLUSIONS: Reliability of the questionnaire designed was acceptable.

Women's autonomy and the evaluation of the information available on the Internet on hormone therapy after menopause.

This study was designed to examine the information in Spanish, provided by different Web sites, related to hormone therapy and climacteric symptoms. Web sites evaluated included those belonging to government and scientific institutions and to a miscellaneous group. In Web sites in Spanish, there was more extensive information on the benefits of hormone therapy than there were on other items. The Web sites of governmental institutions provided significantly more information on the risks (P < .01) and benefits (P = .02) of hormone therapy than did the other sites. Governmental institutions from the United States, unlike those from Spain, did not make recommendations regarding when hormone therapy should be considered and instead emphasized the woman's decision. The variability of information in Spanish on hormone therapy and postmenopausal symptoms presented on the Internet is related to the organization responsible for the Web site. Besides, cultural differences in the concept of patient autonomy could partly explain the differences in emphasis made on women's role in the decision-making process.

Factors associated with seatbelt, helmet, and child safety seat use in a spanish high-risk injury area.

BACKGROUND: Focus of motor vehicle crashes death prevention is actually placed on preinjury period. The purpose of this study was to estimate predictors of using seatbelts, helmet and children safety seats. METHODS: Data from a cross-sectional survey was analyzed. The behaviors were explored as dichotomous variables. Multivariate logistic regression models are proposed to predict them. RESULTS: The educational level and community size measured by number of inhabitants were directly associated with all the behaviors studied. Females were more likely than males to use seatbelts and less likely to ride a motorcycle. Seatbelt and helmet use increased with age. Those exposed to both traffic in the city and on the road were more likely to use seatbelt and helmet than those only exposed in the city. Other variables included in any of the models were: being married or living with a partner, health-related variables as smoking habit, wealth-related variables as home ownership, and an ecological measure of wealth that is the average family income of the community. CONCLUSIONS: Protective device use is associated with sociodemographic, health, and wealth-related variables, and type of exposure to traffic. There are also ecological variables associated with the behaviors studied. These findings should be helpful for planning safer habits promotion programs. Further research, from the discourse analysis of people with different risk profile, should be performed to improve the understanding of the use of protective devices.