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Abstract

Introduction: The royal college of Surgeons' Supported Decision-Making guidance details how patients should access information necessary to make clinical decisions alongside their medical team. As patients become more reliant on information found via the internet, it is important to ensure that there are suitable, validated and appropriate resources. This study aims to assess the quality of online patient information related to anti reflux (Fundoplication) surgery and we believe this review is first of its kind with regards to surgery for gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Methods: A comprehensive, targeted search was made of online healthcare information relating to Fundoplication surgery. Search terms 'fundoplication' and 'anti-reflux surgery' were entered into three main search engines using a pre-defined search strategy. Websites were assessed according to their readability (Klesch-Kincaid Reading Ease Score), quality and content (International Patient Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS) and DISCERN scores) as well as the presence of accreditation. The PRISM and AMSTAR guidelines have been followed in this article.

Results: Overall, 74 sources from three search engines were found. Duplicates were removed and pre-defined eligibility criteria applied, giving 40 sources for analysis. The mean readability score of literature was higher than the recommended score for patient education materials, while the IPDAS and DISCERN scores were low. Areas of weakness were in describing non-treatment option and lack additional source of sport and information. There were only 22.5% of the websites that are accredited by the HANcode ant the rest with no form of accreditation. However, no statistical significance was found on the overall quality of websites between the accredited and non accredited websites

Conclusion: Patient information available online for fundoplication is difficult to read, is of poor quality and is lacking in clear sources. In order to allow for shared decision-making, there is a need for high quality resources made available for patients.

Keywords:   Reflux disease, anti-reflux surgery, online health resources shared decision making