AB235. 21. Congenital talipes equinovarus: the reliability and readability of online resources

Background: Congenital talipes equinovarus (CTEV), also known as club foot is a common congenital disorder. Parents are increasingly utilizing the internet as a source of information about health care. The quality of medical information on the internet varies. This study examined material available to parents relating to CTEV using two separate instruments (HONcode, JAMA Scoring Criteria and DISCERN tool) for judging the reliability of online resources.

Methods: The top 3 search engines in Ireland were studied. The phrases “Congenital talipes equinovarus” and “club foot” were entered separately into all 3 platforms. The websites were then evaluated using the HONcode, JAMA Scpring Criteria and the DISCERN tool.

Results: Fifty-four websites were found across the 3 search engines using the key word club foot while CTEV returned 55 matches. Four websites in total displayed the HON code (7.33%). Using the discern tool CTEV websites had a mean score of 60 with a standard deviation of 17 and club foot a mean score of 56.8 with a standard deviation of 13 (max score: 80).

Conclusions: There is a large volume of information available to laypeople online some of which can be ambiguous and misleading. Often parents find comfort in sharing experiences through online forums and feel empowered by learning about their children’s illnesses. Practitioners should be aware of a number of key websites that parents can be directed towards in order to avoid unreliable and potentially damaging information.

Keywords: Paediatric; orthopaedic; internet