Review of the quality of information on bipolar disorder on the internet

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess the quality of commonly found websites on bipolar disorder. A specifically designed quality tool, the Bipolar Website Quality Checklist (BWQC), was developed for this purpose. Methods: The BWQC was developed from quality criteria identified by a literature review of Medline (1966 +), Medline in-process and non-indexed citations, PsychINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE, Pub Med, Science citation index, and Psych Articles, using keywords: ‘quality, reliability, accuracy, readability, evaluation, assessment, information, internet, web, www’. To identify relevant websites, seven common search engines were accessed and searched using a string of key words: ‘bipolar disorder + mania+ manic depression+ hypomania’. The top active 15 sites identified were rated by three independent raters, using the BWQC and DISCERN instruments. Results: There was a wide variability in the quality of the websites reviewed. The Black Dog Institute website was ranked first by the BWQC and DISCERN instruments. The National Institute of Mental Health website was ranked second by DISCERN and seventh by BWQC. The BWQC demonstrated high interrater reliability (r = 0.89) and correlated strongly (r = 0.78, p = 0.001) with the more generic DISCERN instrument. Websites with an editorial board or affiliation to a professional organization or which contained information on a variety of mental health issues had higher quality information on bipolar disorder and its treatment than websites that did not share these characteristics. Conclusions: High-quality information on bipolar disorder does exist on the Internet. It is important that clinicians are familiar with such websites so that they can recommend the most appropriate site that meets the specific need of the individual. Use of such websites can assist clinicians in adhering to clinical practice guidelines by providing material to augment psychoeducational interventions.