Table 3 Recommended Websites for Patients and Consumers
From: Dietary and herbal supplements for weight loss: assessing the quality of patient information online
Website name | URL | Summed DISCERN Score | Website Category | Target Audience | Frequency of Updates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Very Well Fit | 67.50 | Health Portal | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | Website states that they regularly update and fact-check to keep content "accurate, reliable, and trustworthy." Precise frequency of update is not known | |
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements | 66.50 | Government | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | "Last updated" is present on all pages, with "update history" available as well. Precise frequency of updates and new content publication is not known | |
Mayo Clinic | 66.50 | Health Portal | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | Mayo Clinic Proceedings are published monthly. Page update frequency is unknown | |
Drugs | 66.00 | Health Portal | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | "Last updated" is available on all pages, and is "Medically Reviewed" by professionals. Data is retrieved from sources including IBM Watson Micromedex, Cerner Multum™, Wolters Kluwer™, which are updated monthly, and other unnamed databases | |
Healthline | 65.50 | Health Portal | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | New content published weekly, unknown how often older content is reviewed/updated | |
WebMD | 65.50 | Health Portal | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | "Last reviewed" is provided on all pages. Unknown how often information is reviewed | |
Examine | 65.00 | Health Portal | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | "Last updated" and "Reviewed by" provided on all pages. Unknown how precise update frequency is | |
Medline Plus | 65.00 | Government | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | "Review date" provided, but frequency of review us unknown | |
Cleveland Clinic | 64.50 | Professional | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | "Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on …" provided, but no precise update frequency known | |
Medical News Today | 62.50 | News | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | "Last medically reviewed on…" provided, but no precise update frequency known. Daily content published | |
Government of Canada | 61.50 | Government | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | "Date modified:" provided, but no precise update frequency known | |
Medscape | 61.00 | Health Portal | Healthcare providers, researchers, patients/public | "Reviewed:" provided, but no precise update frequency given. Content published daily |