DISCERN

{{for|the California-based company|Discern Group Inc}}

{{Orphan|date=June 2018}}

DISCERN is an instrument designed to provide users with a reliable way to measure the quality of written health information. It was originally developed by Deborah Charnock, Sasha Shepperd, Gill Needham, and Robert Gann, who reported on its development and validation in a February 1999 paper.{{cite journal | vauthors = Charnock D, Shepperd S, Needham G, Gann R | title = DISCERN: an instrument for judging the quality of written consumer health information on treatment choices | journal = Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health | volume = 53 | issue = 2 | pages = 105–11 | date = February 1999 | pmid = 10396471 | pmc = 1756830 | doi=10.1136/jech.53.2.105}}

DISCERN is designed for use by individual consumers, health information providers, and health professionals. The instrument contains 15 questions that may be rated on a scale of 1–5. Questions are intended to draw user attention to issues of potential bias, content currency, relevance, clarity, evidence, and balance.Charnock D (compiler). [http://www.discern.org.uk/discern.pdf The DISCERN Handbook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123161703/http://www.discern.org.uk/discern.pdf |date=2018-11-23 }}. Radcliffe Medical Press Ltd.

The DISCERN website was launched in May 1999. Despite originally being developed using printed materials, the tool has been shown to be effective at evaluating the quality of health information on the internet, as well as for printed information.{{cite journal | vauthors = Charnock D, Shepperd S | title = Learning to DISCERN online: applying an appraisal tool to health websites in a workshop setting | journal = Health Education Research | volume = 19 | issue = 4 | pages = 440–6 | date = August 2004 | pmid = 15155597 | doi = 10.1093/her/cyg046 | url = https://academic.oup.com/her/article/19/4/440/560331 | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Rees CE, Ford JE, Sheard CE | title = Evaluating the reliability of DISCERN: a tool for assessing the quality of written patient information on treatment choices | journal = Patient Education and Counseling | volume = 47 | issue = 3 | pages = 273–5 | date = July 2002 | pmid = 12088606 | doi = 10.1016/S0738-3991(01)00225-7 }}