Quality and Readability of Web-Based Information for Patients With Pancreatic Cysts: DISCERN and Readability Test Analysis

Abstract

Background Pancreatic cysts are a complex medical problem with several treatment options. Patients use web-based health information to understand their conditions and to guide treatment choices. Objective The goal of this study was to describe the quality and readability of publicly available web-based information on pancreatic cysts and to compare this information across website affiliations. Methods A Google search for “pancreatic cysts” was performed and the first 30 websites were evaluated. Website affiliations were classified as academic, media, nonprofit, government, or not disclosed. Information describing cancer risk was recorded. The DISCERN instrument measured the quality of content regarding treatment choices. Four standardized tests were used to measure readability. Results Twenty-one websites were included. The majority of the websites (20/21, 95%) described the cancer risk associated with pancreatic cysts. Nearly half of the websites were written by an academic hospital or organization. The average DISCERN score for all websites was 40.4 (range 26-65.5, maximum 80). Websites received low scores due to lack of references, failure to describe the risks of treatment, or lack of details on how treatment choices affect quality of life. The average readability score was 14.74 (range 5.76-23.85, maximum 19+), indicating a college reading level. There were no significant differences across website affiliation groups. Conclusions Web-based information for patients with pancreatic cysts is of moderate quality and is written above the reading level of most Americans. Gastroenterological, cancer treatment organizations, and physicians should advocate for improving the available information by providing cancer risk stratification, treatment impact on quality of life, references, and better readability.

Upper Limb Spasticity

“…Previous studies on nonrehabilitation conditions have reported below-average resource quality, specifically, the management of many orthopedic and vascular conditions. 18,21,27 In contrast, patient resources for upper limb spasticity are of good quality, which is consistent with studies that have evaluated pelvic floor exercises and total hip and knee replacements. 25,27 This could be attributed to the fact that pelvic floor issues and joint replacements are common in the United States.…”

“…Of the Websites, 63.9% and 63.6% of YouTube videos failed to mention any risk factors for treatments receiving a DISCERN score of 1. Although this was not commonly observed in similar studies, Oman et al 21 reported similar shortcomings, reporting that the description of the risk associated with treatment was suboptimal. A potential solution is to incorporate hyperlinks, which allow patients to obtain further information if needed.…”

“…This trend has been observed in several specialties. Studies on peripheral vascular disease, pancreatic cysts, and obstetric disorders reported that online patient resources lacked authorship and cited sources of information 18,21,27 . Implementing QR codes that lead to online resources could help guide patients to quality resources in outpatient settings.…”

Quality Assessment of Online Resources for Gender-affirming Surgery

“…Section three (question 16) helps determine the overall rating of the publication on a scale of 1-5 after rating the previous 15 questions. 12 Using the same list of 100 most popular search results for the common GAS-related search terms as described above, the quality of these online sources was determined using the DISERN score. Two researchers (A. Z.F and A.…”

“…Although there are several methods to assess the quality of texts, a common and well-validated method that has previously been used to evaluate online sources is the DISCERN tool. [12][13][14] The transgender population faces unique barriers to health literacy. Studies indicate that 24% of transgender patients have only completed elementary level education, and 60% have only secondary education.…”