Evaluating the Dental Caries-Related Information on Brazilian Websites: Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Dental caries is the most common chronic oral disease, affecting 2.4 billion people worldwide who on average have 2.11 decayed, missing, or filled teeth. It impacts the quality of life of patients, socially and economically. However, the comprehension of dental caries may be difficult for most people, as it involves a multifactorial etiology with the interplay between the tooth surface, the dental biofilm, dietary fermentable carbohydrates, and genetic and behavioral factors. Therefore, the production of effective materials addressed to the education and counseling of patients for the prevention of dental caries requires a high level of specialization. In this regard, the dental caries-related contents produced by laypersons and their availability on the Internet may be low-quality information. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the readability and the quality of dental caries-related information on Brazilian websites. METHODS: A total of 75 websites were selected through Google, Bing, Yahoo!, and Baidu. The websites were organized in rankings according to their order of appearance in each one of the 4 search engines. Furthermore, 2 independent examiners evaluated the quality of websites using the DISCERN questionnaire and the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria. The readability of the websites was assessed by the Flesch Reading Ease adapted to Brazilian Portuguese (FRE-BP). In addition, the information presented on the websites was categorized as etiology, prevention, and treatment of dental caries. The statistical analysis was performed using Spearman rank correlation coefficient, Mann-Whitney U test, hierarchical clustering analysis by Ward minimum variance method, Kruskal-Wallis test, and post hoc Dunn test. P<.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The Web contents were considered to be of poor quality by DISCERN (mean 33.48, standard deviation, SD 9.06) and JAMA (mean 1.12, SD 0.97) scores, presenting easy reading levels (FRE-BP: mean 62.93, SD 10.15). The rankings of the websites presented by Google (ρ=-.22, P=.08), Baidu (ρ=-.19, P=.53), Yahoo! (ρ=.22, P=.39), and Bing (ρ=-.36, P=.23) were not correlated with DISCERN scores. Moreover, the quality of websites with health- and nonhealth-related authors was similar (P=.27 for DISCERN and P=.47 for JAMA); however, the pages with a greater variety of dental caries information showed significantly higher quality scores than those with limited contents (P=.009). CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of this sample, dental caries-related contents available on Brazilian websites were considered simple, accessible, and of poor quality, independent of their authorship. These findings indicate the need for the development of specific policies focused on the stimulus for the production and publication of Web health information, encouraging dentists to guide their patients in searching for recommended oral health websites.

Health Interoperability into Practice: Results of the Development of a Consent Form in a Pilot Project in a Health District in São Paulo, Brazil.

Interoperability of health information systems is a centerpiece of the "E-Health" Brazilian Ministry of Health strategy. It aims to solve at least partially the health information technology puzzle that we face today. This paper describes a health information exchange pilot project in a health district of the city of São Paulo. It discusses the results of the development of an informed consent form for health information exchange. This consent form showed excellent results, with median application time of 3 minutes and with 97.8% of patients feeling fully clarified. The patients' perception when faced with options of consent to share their data is also described.

Potential benefits of treatment summaries for survivors' health and information needs: results from a LIVESTRONG survey.

PURPOSE: Treatment summaries (TSs), a critical component of survivorship care plans, have been identified as a tool to improve outcomes for the 14 million cancer survivors in the United States. METHODS: In 2010, the LIVESTRONG Foundation fielded the LIVESTRONG Survey for People Affected by Cancer. The survey was designed to assess the physical, emotional, and practical concerns after cancer as well as receipt of treatment summaries. Participants were recruited online and through national partners. RESULTS: Over a 9-month period, > 12,000 people completed the survey, including 3,682 post-treatment cancer survivors (PTCSs). PTCSs who received a TS reported that they were closer to time since diagnosis or end of treatment (P < .01), more likely to have received chemotherapy (P < .01), more likely to have received the majority of their health care from a medical oncologist (P < .05), experiencing significantly fewer post-treatment emotional concerns (P < .05), and significantly less likely to say that they had learned to live with their concerns (P < .05). PTCSs who received a TS more often reported that their needs had been met, including receiving information about possible late effects, care they received during treatment, and care they received after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Receipt of a TS was associated with a variety of positive outcomes; however, only approximately one third of PTCSs received one. Future studies focused on patient perspectives on care planning tools can help to improve optimal survivorship care delivery. Possible solutions for improving access to a TS are included.