Study of the Quality of Website Information Related to Promotion of Pathology

ABSTRACT

Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the reliability of information about pathology available to people at Turkish websites.Materials and Methods:The terms “pathology,” “what is pathology,” and “importance of pathology” were scanned into the most commonly used search engine in Turkey of “Google” in Turkish at 2018. The terms used in the research were considered to be terms used by patients and the public. The first 30 results for each search were used. The same websites reached as a result of the search were eliminated. Each website was classified according to the author as health-related organizations, news, personal, doctors, and undetermined. The websites were assessed according to 15-question scale that was prepared to assess information related to definition, functions, and importance of pathology.Results: The search reached 90 websites. Of these, nine were the same website. As a result, the evaluation included 81 websites. The mean points for the websites were 1.432 (min 0, max 13, and standard deviation 4.28). When the information is distributed according to topic headings, proportionally, the most sufficient information appeared to be about “what is pathology” at 32.1%. The most insufficient information was given about “how does a pathology laboratory work (2.5%),” “place of pathology in genetic studies (2.5%),” and “importance of preventive medicine (2.5%).”Conclusions: According to our study, the information on “what is pathology” and “important of pathology” on the internet is not sufficient. Pathologists should be aware of this deficiency, and people should be properly informed about the importance of pathology.