1. Motamedi SM, Posadas-Calleja J, Straus S, et al. (2011) The efficacy of computer-enabled discharge communication interventions: a systematic review. BMJ Qual Saf, 20(5), 403–415. 2. Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN). 128 The SIGN discharge document. (2012) Edinburgh: SIGN. Available from www.sign.ac.uk Date accessed 30/07/2012 J. Sowtera, P. Knappc, L. Dyea, F. Astinb, P. Marshalla aUniversity of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK, bUniversity click here of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, UK, cUniversity of York, York, North Yorkshire,

UK This exploratory study assessed the quality of a purposive sample of 39 commercial and non-commercial websites containing information about herbal remedies for menopausal symptoms. Commercial websites were the most prevalent and scored lower for quality than non-commercial sites using the Barasertib datasheet DISCERN tool. Coverage of information about specific herbal remedies was poor across all websites. There is room for improvement in quality and coverage of website information about herbal remedies for menopausal symptoms. The internet is increasingly used as a source of health information for consumers despite concerns about the quality

of health information on the internet, particularly about herbal remedies. The study aim was to analyse the content of a sample of commercial and non-commercial websites with information about herbal remedies for menopausal symptoms, to determine their quality and the extent to which check details they met women’s identified information needs. This exploratory study used a purposive sample of websites for analysis. The sample included websites used by women or recommended by service providers, supplemented by websites identified via a series of searches conducted in Google using search terms volunteered by women. Inclusion criteria were that they contained information about herbal remedies for menopausal symptoms and had a key purpose for providing information about treatment. Research ethics approval was not required. The websites were assessed for quality using validated tools for: Information quality (using the DISCERN

tool1) Coverage of information specific to needs identified by a sample of women with menopausal symptoms (e.g. range of treatment choices, clinical effects of products, combining products for optimal effect and real life experiences) Accessibility (assessed by readability scores using the SMOG tool2) Thirty-nine websites were analysed. The majority of websites were for commercial providers. There was a statistically significant difference between commercial and non-commercial (e.g. charities and government) websites, with commercial websites scoring lower than non-commercial for the DISCERN tool (p = 0.014). There was no statistical difference between the types of website provider for the SMOG readability test (p = 0.324) or for the tool assessing coverage of specific information (p = 0.60).