Review of the quality of information on bipolar disorder on the Internet.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess the quality of commonly found websites on bipolar disorder. A specifically designed quality tool, the Bipolar Website Quality Checklist (BWQC), was developed for this purpose. Methods: The BWQC was developed from quality criteria identified by a...

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Published in:Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 43; no. 10; pp. 934 - 946
Main Authors: Barnes C, Harvey R, Wilde A, Hadzi-Pavlovic D, Wilhelm K, Mitchell PB
Format: questionnaire/scale research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Sage Publications Inc. Oct2009
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Oct2009
      vid: 43
      iid: 10
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      pub: Sage Publications Inc.
      place: Thousand Oaks, California
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        105328425
        2010443062
        10.1080/00048670903179137
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        atl: Review of the quality of information on bipolar disorder on the Internet.
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        au:
          Barnes C
          Harvey R
          Wilde A
          Hadzi-Pavlovic D
          Wilhelm K
          Mitchell PB
        affil: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia
      sug:
        subj:
          Bipolar Disorder
          Analysis of Variance
          Checklists
          CINAHL Database
          Confidence Intervals
          Descriptive Statistics
          Embase
          Funding Source
          Interrater Reliability
          P-Value
          Psycinfo
          Human
      ab: Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess the quality of commonly found websites on bipolar disorder. A specifically designed quality tool, the Bipolar Website Quality Checklist (BWQC), was developed for this purpose. Methods: The BWQC was developed from quality criteria identified by a literature review of Medline (1966 + ), Medline in-process and non-indexed citations, PsychINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE, Pub Med, Science citation index, and PsychArticles, using keywords: 'quality, reliability, accuracy, readability, evaluation, assessment, information, internet, web, www'. To identify relevant websites, seven common search engines were accessed and searched using a string of key words: 'bipolar disorder + mania+ manic depression+ hypomania'. The top active 15 sites identified were rated by three independent raters, using the BWQC and DISCERN instruments. Results: There was a wide variability in the quality of the websites reviewed. The Black Dog Institute website was ranked first by the BWQC and DISCERN instruments. The National Institute of Mental Health website was ranked second by DISCERN and seventh by BWQC. The BWQC demonstrated high interrater reliability (r = 0.89) and correlated strongly (r = 0.78, p = 0.001) with the more generic DISCERN instrument. Websites with an editorial board or affiliation to a professional organization or which contained information on a variety of mental health issues had higher quality information on bipolar disorder and its treatment than websites that did not share these characteristics. Conclusions: High-quality information on bipolar disorder does exist on the Internet. It is important that clinicians are familiar with such websites so that they can recommend the most appropriate site that meets the specific need of the individual. Use of such websites can assist clinicians in adhering to clinical practice guidelines by providing material to augment psychoeducational interventions.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        questionnaire/scale
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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