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Abstract Details

Quality of online materials in MS
Multiple Sclerosis
P3 - Poster Session 3 (5:30 PM-6:30 PM)
3-002
To evaluate the quality of the online educational resources for MS.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially disabling autoimmune disease of the central nervous system is usually diagnosed at 20-50 years. Once diagnosed, people with MS may learn about their disease from their providers, social media and online education materials.
The study include100 Google searches of multiple sclerosis webpages written by MS experts, neurologists, and other writers. We used the Flescher-Kincaid score to evaluate readability. Webpages that address more than two categories (MS etiology/pathology, symptomatology, diagnosis, treatment) were characterized comprehensively; otherwise, were focused. In addition, we examined the number of articles with advertisements, and citations, if any. 

MS experts wrote 30% of the websites, while neurologists wrote 22% and others 48%. About 21% of the websites written by MS experts were focused.  The mean F-K score was 50.8 (SD15.6) with a 95% confidence interval of {47.7-53.9} and a median of 52. These scores reflect a reading level ranging from high school to college. 

Neurologists and others wrote 5% of the webpages with higher F-K indexes. More than half (57%) of the webpages had advertisements, and those with more advertisements were more focused and not comprehensive. Webpages that were focused were more cited, while those with advertisements were less cited.

The results showed that online educational webpages provide both focused and comprehensive information for MS. However, the high readability index may lead to difficulty understanding the material by people with education lower than high school. 
Authors/Disclosures

PRESENTER 		No disclosure on file
Mahmoud Elkhooly, MD Dr. Elkhooly has nothing to disclose.
Evanthia Bernitsas, MD, FAAN (Wayne State School of Medicine) Dr. Bernitsas has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Amgen. Dr. Bernitsas has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for Vanda. The institution of Dr. Bernitsas has received research support from Roche/Genentech.