How Qualified is Online Information Regarding Space Maintainers? A Content-quality and Readability Analysis

Purpose: To evaluate the reliability, quality, and readability of information regarding space maintainers on English websites using different scales. Materials and Methods: The selected search terms 'space maintainer', 'band and loop', 'distal shoe space maintainer', 'nance appliance', and 'lingual arch' were searched by four search engines (Yahoo, Bing, Yandex, and Google), and 992 websites were recorded. The websites were evaluated using the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), Quality Criteria for Consumer Health Information (DISCERN), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) instruments. Results: Among the 90 websites included in the study, Professional Health Organization (PHO) websites had significantly higher DISCERN scores in all sections and total (p<0.05) compared to other websites. There were no significant differences between websites regarding FKGL and FRES scores (p>0.05). Only 3 (3.3%) provided all JAMA criteria and PHO websites scored significantly higher than the others in almost all categories (p<0.05). Conclusions: Within the limitation of this study, web-based information regarding pediatric space maintainers was inadequate and scientifically imperfect. It is helpful to publish quality websites that contain reliable, high-quality information, and easy to understand by the patient Keywords: Internet, space maintainers, information, quality