Volkan Güngör, Yonca Çoluk
Journal of Biotechnology and Strategic Health Research - 2025;9(2):107-113
Aim We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the quality of online information regarding laryngeal cancer and to compare websites from Turkey and the United Kingdom. Materials and MethodsWebsites were identi/f_i ed using the Google search engine with the keyword "laryngeal cancer," accessed through servers located in Turkey and the United Kingdom. /T_h e /f_i rst 25 eligible websites from each country were selected, and a total of 50 websites were evaluated. /T_h e DISCERN tool was used to assess the quality of the information, and two independent otorhinolaryngology specialists conducted the evaluations. Inter-observer agreement was assessed using Cohen's kappa. Diff erences between Turkish and English sources were analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Results /T_h e mean total DISCERN score was 46.13 +/- 10.37 for English websites and 43.77 +/- 8.97 for Turkish websites, with no statistically signi/f_i cant diff erence between the groups (p = 0.414). /T_h e overall mean score was 44.89 +/- 9.75. English websites scored signi/f_i cantly higher on Question 1 (clarity of aims, p = 0.0052), Question 4 (disclosure of information sources, p = 0.0466), Question 7 (availability of additional support resources, p = 0.0314), and Question 12 (description of consequences of no treatment, p = 0.0097). Conclusions /T_h e qual/i.dotty of laryngeal cancer-related /i.dotnformat/i.doton found onl/i.dotne was moderate and comparable between Turk/i.dotsh and Engl/i.dotsh webs/i.dottes. However, pers/i.dotstent def/i.dotc/i.dotenc/i.dotes /i.dotn source-re- lated transparency h/i.dotghl/i.dotght the need for qual/i.dotty /i.dotmprovement and regulatory overs/i.dotght /i.dotn th/i.dots doma/i.dotn.
