Patients Questions Over Bunion Treatments

NewsBot · Oct 3, 2023

Members do not see these Ads. Sign Up.
Insights Into Patients Questions Over Bunion Treatments: A Google Study
Cole R Phelps et al
Foot Ankle Orthop. 2023 Sep 26;8(3):24730114231198837

Background: Approximately 1 in 4 adults will develop hallux valgus (HV). Up to 80% of adult Internet users reference online sources for health-related information. Overall, with the high prevalence of HV combined with the numerous treatment options, we believe patients are likely turning to Internet search engines for questions relevant to HV. Using Google's people also ask (PAA) or frequently asked questions (FAQs) feature, we sought to classify these questions, categorize the sources, as well as assess their levels of quality and transparency.

Methods: On October 9, 2022, we searched Google using these 4 phrases: "hallux valgus treatment," "hallux valgus surgery," "bunion treatment," and "bunion surgery." The FAQs were classified in accordance with the Rothwell Classification schema and each source was categorized. Lastly, transparency and quality of the sources' information were evaluated with the Journal of the American Medical Association's (JAMA) Benchmark tool and Brief DISCERN, respectively.

Results: Once duplicates and FAQs unrelated to HV were removed, our search returned 299 unique FAQs. The most common question in our sample was related to the evaluation of treatment options (79/299, 26.4%). The most common source type was medical practices (158/299, 52.8%). Nearly two-thirds of the answer sources (184/299; 61.5%) were lacking in transparency. One-way analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in mean Brief DISCERN scores among the 5 source types, F(4) = 54.49 (P < .001), with medical practices averaging the worst score (12.1/30).

Conclusion: Patients seeking online information concerning treatment options for HV search for questions pertaining to the evaluation of treatment options. The source type encountered most by patients is medical practices; these were found to have both poor transparency and poor quality. Publishing basic information such as the date of publication, authors or reviewers, and references would greatly improve the transparency and quality of online information regarding HV treatment
Click to expand...

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

Bizarre Questions from Patients

Low Plasma Arginine among Patients with Diabetic Foot Ulcer

Tactile Therapy Shift Patients Toward Equilibrium

Stress reduction interventions for patients with chronic diabetic foot ulcers

Muscle Performance and Foot Pressure in Patients Who Have Plantar Fasciitis

Preventive Nail Care Among Diabetic Patients

Synovial Inflammation in Patients with Hallux Valgus

Share This Page