Information in practice Saturday 28 June 1997

Reliability of health information for the public on the world wide web: systematic survey of advice on managing fever in children at home

Table 3 summarises the results of the comparison between the contents of the web pages and the guidelines chosen as the standard. Only four web pages adhered closely to the main recommendations listed in the guidelines. The largest deviations were in the sponging procedures (only six out of 41 adhered) and in the way the temperature should be taken (16/41), whereas there was general agreement in the use of paracetamol as the antipyretic of choice (31/41).

Table 3 - Adherence of 41 sites on the world wide web that gave parent oriented information on home management of childhood fever to the recommendations listed in published guidelines(16)
Web site	Aspects of home management of childhood fever
	Temperature measurement	Drug treatment	Sponging procedures	Other physical remedies	When to call a doctor
Accès Santé-Voyage	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Airdrie Medical Clinic	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
American Housecall Network	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
American Association of Naturopathic Physicians	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Anturio	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Arlington Online	No	No	No	No	No
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Canadian Child Care Federation	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Children's Health Care System	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Children's Hospital Medical Center	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Connecticut Children's Medical Center	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Country Living	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Department of Family Practice	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Children	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Dr Reddy's Pediatric Office on the Web	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Drs4Kids	No	Yes	No	No	No
Framingham Pediatrics Web Page	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
General Health System	No	Yes	No	No	No
Health World	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Kids Doctor	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kids Health	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Los Altos Online	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Mead Johnson Canada	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Mercurio Net	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Mi Pediatra	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Microsoft Pregnancy and Child Care Preview	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Moms Online	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
NAPS-NET	No	No	Yes	No	No
Newhope	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
News USA	No	Yes	No	No	No
Optimum Solutions	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Parents Place	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Pediatrics	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
San Jose Good Samaritan Medical Group	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
School Nurse Forum	No	Yes	No	No	No
Sistema de Emergencia Médico Móvil	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
The San Jose Newschannel	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Thrifty Payless Holdings	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
UKOnline Limited	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Universität Innsbruck	No	No	No	Yes	No
Virtual Hospital	Yes	No	No	No	No