ArticlePloS one2023
Internet search analysis on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: What do people ask and read online?
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- User Engagement and Demographics of a Medical Society-Led Website for Scoliosis: An Analysis using Google Analytics.Spine surgery and related research · 2026Article
- Google Search Trends About Systemic Psoriasis Treatment: What Do People Want to Know About Biologics and Janus Kinase Inhibitors?JMIR dermatology · 2024Article
- Enhancing patient education on the role of tibial osteotomy in the management of knee osteoarthritis using a customized ChatGPT: a readability and quality assessment.Frontiers in digital health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThis study aimed to characterize the content of frequently asked questions about the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on the internet in Japan and to evaluate the quality of websites related to the questions.
methodsWe searched terms on the treatment of RA on Google and extracted frequently asked questions generated by the Google "people also ask" function. The website that answered each question was also obtained. We categorized the questions based on the content. The quality of the websites was evaluated using the brief DISCERN, Journal of American Medical Association benchmark criteria, and Clear Communication Index.
resultsOur search yielded 83 questions and the corresponding websites. The most frequently asked questions were regarding the timeline of treatment (n = 17, 23%) and those on the timeline of the clinical course (n = 13, 16%). The median score of brief DISCERN was 11 points, with only 7 (8%) websites having sufficient quality. Websites having sufficient quality based on the Journal of American Medical Association benchmark criteria and Clear Communication Index were absent.
conclusionsThe questions were most frequently related to the timeline of treatment and clinical course. Physicians should provide such information to patients with RA in the counseling and education materials.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.