Qualidade da informação, compreensibilidade, acionabilidade, legibilidade, precisão, clareza e abrangência de informações online sobre tendinopatia patelar

Abstract

Introduction: Patellar tendinopathy is one of the main causes of knee pain in athletes and is characterized by degenerative changes, local pain, and functional limitations, which can impact performance and an athlete's career duration. Information about patellar tendinopathy has been frequently researched on global online search engines, highlighting the need for a better understanding of the quality of this information. Objective: To assess the comprehensibility, actionability, readability, comprehensiveness, accuracy, clarity, and quality of the content available on websites found on Google® and Bing® regarding patellar tendinopathy. Methods: This is a crosssectional observational study reported following the STROBE guidelines. Samples were collected from search engines by selecting the first 20 websites for each English search term: "Patellar Tendinopathy" and "Jumper's Knee" on each search engine, totaling 80 links collected by two independent evaluators. For content analysis, a rubric was used based on current scientific evidence. Comprehensibility and actionability were assessed using the online PEMAT questionnaire; readability was measured using the FleschKincaid grade level; and for assessing the quality of information regarding treatment options for patellar tendinopathy, the DISCERN tool was applied. Results: The overall quality of information was low (mean DISCERN score = 28.90/84), with significant inaccuracies and gaps. Regarding comprehensibility, only 37.06% of websites met the criteria suggested by PEMAT, and actionability was limited (9.05% agreement). Readability was adequate in 56.67% of the sites, indicating that almost half of the sites have issues in this domain. Conclusion: Online information about patellar tendinopathy lacks accuracy, clarity, and applicability, emphasizing the need for more reliable content aligned with scientific evidence. Users should exercise caution when seeking online information about patellar tendinopathy.