Objectives: To determine the type, quality and readability of patient-directed materials on the internet available to help patients with prosthetic joints share in decision making on their use of antibiotics prior to dental procedures.
Methods: The first 100 website hits using terms “antibiotics>dentistry>joints” in the Google search engine on September 4, 2013 were evaluated for patient education materials. Sites were categorized, exclusion criteria applied, and content assessed for quality and readability using the JAMA benchmarks 4 point scale for website quality analysis (4=top quality); display of Health on the Net (HON) seal; and Flesh reading ease score (FRES).
Results: Of the 42 sites included, ownership was clinical practice (27; 64%); professional society (2; 5%); hospital (1; 2%); and “other” (12; 29%). None were hosted by a dental institution. Only 12 (29%) referenced or discussed the latest 2012 ADA/AAOS guidelines, while the others referenced older guidelines or did not reference any guidelines. For JAMA benchmarks, only 7 (17%) sites rated a 4, 13 (31%) sites a 3, the remainder rated 2, 1 or 0. Only 4 sites (10%) displayed the HON seal. When evaluating the “readability” of the sites by the lay public utilizing FRES, 36 (86%) required more than a high school education to be read accurately.
Conclusion: Web-based patient education materials enabling patients with joint replacements to enter into decision making concerning their need for antibiotic prophylaxis before dental treatment is sparse, not up-to-date and written at a difficult reading level.