[Analysis of paediatric neuro-oncological information on the Internet in German language].

BACKGROUND: The fast growing internet offers easy access to medical information. So far there are limited data concerning the quality of this information. This study examined quality and readability of paediatric neuro-oncological information on the internet in german language.

METHOD: Using the search terms "medulloblastoma", "ependymoma", "craniopharyngeoma", "brainstem glioma" and "low grade astrocytoma" in six different search engines, the first 30 universal/uniform resource locators (URLs) of each search engine were assessed. Appropriate Web sites were evaluated in regards to quality using DISCERN-Instrument and checklist rating system. Readability was rated by Flesch Reading Ease score.

RESULTS: Out of 889,56 web sites remained evaluable. Most of the sites rated as poor to very poor (49 %), 30 % rated as fair and 21 % as good to very good. Readability was scored as very difficult with complex vocabulary content limiting the usefulness of good web sites.

CONCLUSIONS: Search-ing for childhood brain tumours via internet is time consuming and most often ineffective. There is a lack of high-quality and comprehensible information on childhood brain tumours on german web sites. Cooperation of scientific medical societies and the Federal Ministry of Health is essential to provide comprehensible and high-quality information on internet as an effective and supportive resource for patients and their relatives.