Objective:

This investigation employs a variety of objective scoring systems to evaluate online concussion information quality from 2021 & 2022.

Background:

In modern times, concussions are a popular health-related search topic. As most users often stop at the first page of Google, these websites’ quality should be assessed by multiple tools that objectively determine the accuracy and efficacy of information presentation, with resultant scores that should improve as cumulative exposure grows over time.

Design/Methods:

The websites analyzed in this study were identified from the first page of a Google search for “Concussion”, with 2 searches conducted to assess differences over 2021 and 2022. Two independent reviews were conducted using the DISCERN instrument, Health-on-The-Net (HON) Foundation code and certification status, JAMA Benchmarks, Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose (CRAAP) test, reading ease, and treatment content. After rating completion, kappa rater agreement statistics and descriptive statistics on subsequent consensus ratings were calculated.

Results:

Across both years, investigator agreement was strong (>0.7), highlighting rating methodology and reproducibility. Among website categories reviewed in the 2021 analysis, academic/nonprofit/healthcare had the highest mean for all scoring tools (41.33, 6.67, 3.33, 29.33), with the sole exception of treatment content, which was led by commercial websites (3.67). The 2022 analysis conveyed academic/nonprofit/healthcare quality dominance for DISCERN (38.40), HonCode (6), and Treatment (3.20). However, the commercial category had the topmost JAMA benchmark score, and government websites had the greatest CRAAP (26) rating. Among both analyses, treatments like physical rest and cognitive rest were emphasized, with all websites ignoring aerobic and psychosocial/emotional support.

Conclusions:

Across both annual analyses, academic/nonprofit/healthcare websites maintained the highest mean in most scoring systems compared to commercial and government websites, but all categories did not exhibit rating improvement over time. This investigation provides valuable insight into the current quality of online concussion knowledge and opportunities for future improvement to enhance public awareness.