World Wide Web - Not easy to look on the bright side with Australian internet sites
Research indicates that more people access the Internet for information on depression than any other health condition, but Australian depression sites need to be improved according to a study published in the Depression and the Community Supplement in the latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.
Kathleen M Griffiths and Helen Christensen, from the Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University, say depression sufferers are more likely to trust information from a website that is recommended by their doctor.
"General Practitioners are uniquely placed to advise patients about which depression websites to visit, but there are currently no systematic guides to Australian depression websites upon which GPs can base advice to their patients," Dr Griffiths said.
"If Australian patients are to benefit from Web-based media, they need to know which sites are of high quality and appropriate to local needs.
"Currently much of the depression information on the Web is of low quality and originates in the United States."
Drs Griffiths and Christensen conducted a cross-sectional survey of 15 Australian depression web sites to discern quality of treatment content, potential quality indicators, and accessibility.
Overall, the quality scores were not high and site accessibility was poor.
The Australian sites that received the highest quality-of-content ratings were beyondblue, BluePages, CRUfAD, and InfraPsych.
The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.
CONTACT: Kathleen Griffiths Phone: (02) 6125 9723 (B/H)
(02) 6247 3501 (A/H)
Sarah Crichton, AMA Phone: (0419) 440 076