How good is online information on fibromyalgia? An analysis of quality and readability of websites on fibromyalgia in Spanish

OBJECTIVE: To assess the content, quality and readability of websites with information on fibromyalgia in Spanish. METHODS: Websites were retrieved entering the keyword ‘fibromyalgia’ in Google, Yahoo! and Bing, and by searching records of patients associations in Spain and Latin America. The Bermúdez-Tamayo and DISCERN questionnaires were employed for evaluating quality and content, and INFLESZ for readability. Statistical analysis was conducted using IBM SPSSV.24 (Chicago, USA). RESULTS: Three hundred and five websites were found. After applying the exclusion criteria, 73 websites were analysed. Websites retrieved by search engines obtained median scores of 27.0 (interquartile interval (IQI): 24.5–32.0) with DISCERN, 35.0 (IQI: 31.0–40.5) with Bermúdez-Tamayo and 53.7 (IQI: 47.4–56.2) with INFLESZ, whereas those from patients associations scored 21.0 (IQI: 19.2–23.8), 26.0 (IQI: 25.0–31.0) and 51.7 (IQI: 47.9–55.1), respectively. In general, content was not up-to-date. CONCLUSIONS: Overall quality was medium-low, content quality was very low and readability was poor. Further effort is needed to guarantee meeting quality criteria and accessing updated, relevant, and legible information. This study exposes the quality and readability of websites on fibromyalgia in Spanish, which can help healthcare workers to better appraise this resource and its potential influence on the development of the pathology.