%0 Journal Article
%@ 1438-8871
%I JMIR Publications
%V 26
%N 
%P e48257
%T Quality Measurement of Consumer Health Questions: Content and Language Perspectives
%A Alasmari,Ashwag
%A Zhou,Lina
%+ Computer Science Department, King Khalid University, King Khalid Road, Guraiger, Abha, 61421, Saudi Arabia, 966 2418000, aasmry@kku.edu.sa
%K question quality
%K quality measurement
%K health questions
%K 
%K information needs
%K information behavior
%K information sharing
%K consumer
%K health information
%K health information consumers
%K quality
%D 2024
%7 12.9.2024
%9 Original Paper
%J J Med Internet Res
%G English
%X Background: Health information consumers increasingly rely on question-and-answer (Q&A) communities to address their health concerns. However, the quality of questions posted significantly impacts the likelihood and relevance of received answers. Objective: This study aims to improve our understanding of the quality of health questions within web-based Q&A communities. Methods: We develop a novel framework for defining and measuring question quality within web-based health communities, incorporating content- and language-based variables. This framework leverages k-means clustering and establishes automated metrics to assess overall question quality. To validate our framework, we analyze questions related to kidney disease from expert-curated and community-based Q&A platforms. Expert evaluations confirm the validity of our quality construct, while regression analysis helps identify key variables. Results: High-quality questions were more likely to include demographic and medical information than lower-quality questions (P<.001). In contrast, asking questions at the various stages of disease development was less likely to reflect high-quality questions (P<.001). Low-quality questions were generally shorter with lengthier sentences than high-quality questions (P<.01). Conclusions: Our findings empower consumers to formulate more effective health information questions, ultimately leading to better engagement and more valuable insights within web-based Q&A communities. Furthermore, our findings provide valuable insights for platform developers and moderators seeking to enhance the quality of user interactions and foster a more trustworthy and informative environment for health information exchange. 
%R 10.2196/48257
%U https://www.jmir.org/2024/1/e48257
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/48257