|
 That’s because much of the information online paints an inaccurate
or incomplete picture of these cosmetic procedures that may be
difficult for patients to understand, researchers report in JAMA
Facial Plastic Surgery.
“No patient should make a decision to have surgery based on a
website alone,” said lead study author Dr. Hani Rayess, a researcher
at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan.
Patients should seek a plastic or facial plastic surgeon who has the
right qualifications to offer treatments that may make cosmetic
procedures safer or more effective, Rayess added by email.
“Often times those who treat the surgery like a fast food delivery
service cannot offer or provide patient-centered results,” Rayess
said.
To assess the quality of information on plastic surgery websites,
researchers did a Google search for the term “neck-lift” and
evaluated the first 45 results.
Most of these websites were run by private physician practices,
while eight of them, or 18 percent, were sites run by academic
medical centers or other sources, the study found.
Researchers scored the websites on factors such as the number of
resources provided, the quality of sources used to provide
information on procedures and whether content was written at a
reading level that patients could easily understand.
While the quality of the sources was significantly better on
websites from academic medical centers than private physician
practices, researchers didn’t find meaningful differences in
readability based on the type of site.
Generally, the sites required around a tenth grade reading level.
Plenty of previous research suggests that patients can struggle to
understand medical information written at much higher than a fifth
grade reading level based on the complexity of words used, the
length of sentences and the sophistication of ideas communicated.
On the technical side, there also wasn’t a meaningful difference
between sites based on whether they were run by academics or private
practice physicians. To get the highest quality marks, sites needed
to be viewable in multiple web browsers, link to social media and
offer privacy protections, among other things.
[to top of second column] |
Limitations of the study include its small sample of websites
analyzed during a brief period of time, the authors note.
Researchers also didn’t analyze visual elements of the websites, an
aspect that can make a big impact on how well patients comprehend
information.
Even so, the findings highlight how hard it can be for patients to
get reliable medical information online, said Dr. Steve Dayan, a
plastic surgeon in Chicago who wasn’t involved in the study.
To make the best decisions about cosmetic procedures, patients
should review as many websites as they can and then seek care from a
reputable physician, Dayan said by email.
“I wouldn’t rely on what a celebrity says and I don’t think just
because someone is board certified they are automatically the best
one for their procedure,” Dayan said.
“I would be cautious with information that is splashed on blogs and
from doctors who seem too flashy and careless,” Dayan added.
“Finding a physician with extensive experience in the exact
procedure of interest is best.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2fDc4F6 JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, online
November 3, 2016.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
