Abstract
BACKGROUND: An increasing number of patients are using online information regarding medical issues; however, the Internet is not subject to content ratings or filters. Unreliable information found on the web can heavily influence patients to the extent that it can lead to wrong decisions in the choice of treatment. In our daily experience we meet more informed patients and given the increasing use of polyurethane-coated implants in breast reconstruction in Europe, we wondered about the level of information available online. Our study aims to assess the quality of information available online on breast reconstruction with polyurethane-coated implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Assuming that the most used search engines are Google and Yahoo, we used a search strategy to identify online information regarding prepectoral breast reconstruction with polyurethane-coated implants. The selected websites were divided into 5 groups (practitioners, hospitals, healthcare portals, professional societies, and encyclopedias), and the quality of information was assessed by using an expanded version of the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) tool, which is a checklist applicable to all existing types of information. RESULTS: Fifty-six websites were selected and were categorized into 5 groups: 17 practitioners, 9 hospitals, 13 healthcare portals, 7 professional societies, 10 encyclopedias. The average score was 17 points (range: 12 - 25). We found 13 reliable websites with a score higher than 20 using the expanded version of the EQIP tool, whereas 43 were deemed unreliable, as they scored lower. CONCLUSION: Proper communication between surgeon and patient is crucial in the therapeutic choice, as the available online information presently is scarce and can lead to wrong decisions if not properly verified.