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Elements of Compliance By Criteria
Table 5 displays the estimates of website compliance, by criterion and by disclosure elements
associated with each criterion. We present estimates separately for all health websites, the sites
most frequently visited, and for the remainder websites. We discuss findings by criterion in the
following sections.
Identity
Full compliance with the Identity criterion requires disclosure of three elements: (1) the name
of the person or organization responsible for the website (Name), (2) the street address (Address),
and (3) identified sources of funding for the website (Funding). As shown in Table 5, most websites
(92 percent) disclose Name, and over half (55 percent) disclose Address. However, only one-fifth
(20 percent) disclose Funding. In sum, only 9 percent of all websites (and 15 percent of the sites
most frequently visited) comply with all three of the Identity criterion elements, although most
comply with one or two. While baseline estimates of compliance with the criterion and its subcomponent
elements differed somewhat between the strata, we did not find statistically significant differences at
the 0.05 level of significance.
Table 5. Estimates of Compliance by Criterion and Disclosure Element
|
|
All Sites (n = 102)
|
|
Frequently Visited Sites (n=52)
|
|
Remainder (n=50)
|
|
Criterion/Disclosure Element
|
Percent
|
Lower bound 95% CI
|
Upper bound 95% CI
|
|
Percent
|
Lower bound 95% CI
|
Upper bound 95% CI
|
|
Percent
|
Lower bound 95% CI
|
Upper bound 95% CI
|
|
Identity
|
8.5
|
3.6
|
18.9
|
|
15.4
|
8.5
|
26.2
|
|
8.0
|
3.0
|
19.7
|
|
Name
|
91.6
|
81.2
|
96.5
|
|
86.5
|
76.0
|
92.9
|
|
92.0
|
80.3
|
97.0
|
|
Street address
|
54.8
|
41.7
|
67.3
|
|
65.4
|
53.2
|
75.8
|
|
54.0
|
40.0
|
67.4
|
|
Funding sources
|
20.2
|
11.7
|
32.7
|
|
23.1
|
14.5
|
34.7
|
|
20.0
|
11.0
|
33.6
|
|
Purpose
|
35.2
|
24.0
|
48.4
|
|
51.9*
|
40.0
|
63.7
|
|
34.0
|
22.2
|
48.3
|
|
Purpose or mission
|
64.3
|
50.9
|
75.7
|
|
67.3
|
55.2
|
77.5
|
|
64.0
|
49.7
|
76.2
|
|
Uses and limitations
|
71.0
|
57.8
|
81.5
|
|
84.6
|
73.8
|
91.5
|
|
70.0
|
55.8
|
81.2
|
|
Association with commercial
products
|
60.8
|
47.5
|
72.7
|
|
71.2
|
59.1
|
80.8
|
|
60.0
|
45.8
|
72.7
|
|
Content
|
0.3
|
0.1
|
0.9
|
|
3.9
|
1.1
|
12.3
|
|
0.0
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
|
Identify advertising content
|
74.9
|
61.8
|
84.6
|
|
86.5
|
76.0
|
92.9
|
|
74.0
|
60.0
|
84.4
|
|
Describe editorial policy
|
5.1
|
1.8
|
13.5
|
|
19.2*
|
11.4
|
30.5
|
|
4.0
|
1.0
|
14.9
|
|
Authorship
|
11.4
|
5.6
|
22.0
|
|
30.8*
|
20.9
|
42.9
|
|
10.0
|
4.2
|
22.1
|
|
Privacy*
|
75.3
|
62.1
|
85.0
|
|
92.3*
|
82.9
|
96.7
|
|
74.0
|
60.0
|
84.4
|
|
Privacy policy
|
79.1
|
66.3
|
88.0
|
|
94.2*
|
85.3
|
97.9
|
|
78.0
|
64.3
|
87.5
|
|
Describe protection of personal
information
|
75.3
|
62.1
|
85.0
|
|
92.3*
|
82.9
|
96.7
|
|
74.0
|
60.0
|
84.4
|
|
User Feedback
|
58.8
|
45.5
|
70.9
|
|
69.2
|
57.1
|
79.2
|
|
58.0
|
43.9
|
71.0
|
|
Feedback mechanism
|
58.8
|
45.5
|
70.9
|
|
69.2
|
57.1
|
79.2
|
|
58.0
|
43.9
|
71.0
|
|
Content Updating
|
0.1
|
0.02
|
0.8
|
|
1.9
|
0.3
|
10.2
|
|
0.0
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
|
Display date createda
|
4.5
|
1.4
|
13.5
|
|
11.5
|
5.8
|
21.7
|
|
4.0
|
1.0
|
14.9
|
|
Display date reviewed or updateda*
|
3.2
|
1.0
|
9.9
|
|
19.2
|
11.4
|
30.5
|
|
2.0
|
0.3
|
13.2
|
Source:��������� Computations
by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Note:������������� All
percentages and confidence intervals are weighted.
�����������������������CI= Confidence Interval
�����������������������n.a.
= Not applicable due to a zero estimate and standard error
�����������������������Shading indicates
estimates that are unreliable, due to large standard error relative to small
percentage estimates.
a This
criterion element must be fulfilled for all three pages of health content
evaluated.
*Difference
in estimated percentages for "most frequently visited sites" compared
to "remainder sites" is statistically significant at the 95 percent
level of confidence,
based on student's t-test of independent samples.
Figure 3 shows the estimated frequency of compliance with the elements of the Identity
criterion for frequently visited websites and the remainder, by the number elements in compliance.
Figure 3. Compliance of Frequently Visited Sites and Remainder Sites with Identity Criterion, by Number of Disclosure Elements in Compliance
View text version of Figure 3.
Purpose
Compliance with the Purpose criterion requires disclosure of three elements: (1) a statement of the purpose or mission of the website (Mission), (2) uses and limitations of the services provided (Uses), and (3) a statement about any association with commercial products or services (Commercial Products). As shown in
Table 5, 35 percent of all websites disclose all three elements, although a larger percentage (between 61 and 71 percent) provide statements that comply with at least one of the three elements (often in legal disclaimers included somewhere in the website).
Compliance with all three elements is substantially higher among the websites most frequently visited (52 percent) than among the remainder websites (34 percent), and the difference is statistically significant at the 0.05 level (Figure 4). However, we did not find statistically significant differences between the two strata in the frequency of disclosure of the individual elements included in this criterion, nor in the mean number of elements in compliance.
Figure 4. Compliance of Frequently Visited Sites and Remainder Sites with Purpose Criterion, by Number of Disclosure Elements in Compliance
View text version of Figure
4.
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