Readability and quality of online patient health information on parotidectomy

Abstract

Objective Complications of parotidectomy can have a massive impact on patients’ quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the readability and quality of online health information on parotidectomy. Method The search terms ‘parotidectomy’, ‘parotid surgery’, ‘parotidectomy patient information’ and ‘parotid surgery patient information’ were parsed through three popular search engines. Results The websites were analysed using readability scores of the Flesch Reading Ease test and the Gunning Fog Index. The DISCERN instrument was used to assess quality and reliability. The average Flesch Reading Ease score was 50.2 ± 9.0, indicating that the materials were fairly difficult to read, the Gunning Fog Index score showed that the patient health information was suitable for an individual above 12th grade level, and the DISCERN score indicated that the online patient health information had fair quality. The Kruskal–Wallis test showed a significant difference in Flesch Reading Ease and DISCERN tool scores according to website category (p < 0.05). Conclusion Current online patient health information on parotidectomy is too difficult for the public to understand, and it exceeds the reading levels recommended by Health Education England and the American Medical Association.