| Title |
Treatments for Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Evidence, Advocacy, and the Internet
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, May 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10803-012-1551-7 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Nina C. Di Pietro, Louise Whiteley, Ania Mizgalewicz, Judy Illes |
| Abstract |
The Internet is a major source of health-related information for parents of sick children despite concerns surrounding quality. For neurodevelopmental disorders, the websites of advocacy groups are a largely unexamined source of information. We evaluated treatment information posted on nine highly-trafficked advocacy websites for autism, cerebral palsy, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. We found that the majority of claims about treatment safety and efficacy were unsubstantiated. Instead, a range of rhetorical strategies were used to imply scientific support. When peer-reviewed publications were cited, 20 % were incorrect or irrelevant. We call for new partnerships between advocacy and experts in developmental disorders to ensure better accuracy and higher transparency about how treatment information is selected and evidenced on advocacy websites. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 21 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 6 | 29% |
| United States | 1 | 5% |
| Germany | 1 | 5% |
| Italy | 1 | 5% |
| Japan | 1 | 5% |
| Netherlands | 1 | 5% |
| Unknown | 10 | 48% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 16 | 76% |
| Scientists | 4 | 19% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 5% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 133 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 2 | 2% |
| Spain | 1 | <1% |
| Sweden | 1 | <1% |
| Australia | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 128 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 34 | 26% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 15 | 11% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 13 | 10% |
| Researcher | 11 | 8% |
| Student > Bachelor | 8 | 6% |
| Other | 29 | 22% |
| Unknown | 23 | 17% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 32 | 24% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 22 | 17% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 13 | 10% |
| Social Sciences | 13 | 10% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 5 | 4% |
| Other | 21 | 16% |
| Unknown | 27 | 20% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 15. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 03 July 2013.
All research outputs
#2,509,938
of 25,654,806 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
#1,082
of 5,484 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#15,200
of 177,284 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
#11
of 50 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,654,806 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 90th percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,484 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 13.4. This one has done well, scoring higher than 80% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 177,284 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 91% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 50 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 78% of its contemporaries.