Abstract
Objective: On the hypothesis that the health information offered on the homepages of Medical Associations is best for the general public, we collected and examined these information.
Methods: We investigated 99 homepages of member societies of the Japanese Association of Medical Sciences. We checked the information for the general public, and evaluated these data. Using the survey matrix, we reviewed these homepages.
Results: Thirty-one medical societies (31%) have pages especially for the public, and other 37 societies (37%) have health information for general audiences. The type of information most offered on the homepages is “explanation of diseases or procedures”.
“Readability” and “disclosure of ownership” were evaluated as high on the content criteria, whereas “disclaimers”, “clinical consultation” and “compliance” were evaluated as low.
Conclusions: The provision of health information by these medical societies is still inadequate, however we may be able to provide a list of their websites or offer publications for the general public.
