Readability, content, and quality of COVID-19 patient education materials from academic medical centers in the United States

Kruse, Jessica H; Toledo, Paloma; Belton, Tayler B.; Testani, Erica J.; Evans, Charlesnika T.; Grobman, William A.; Miller, Emily S.; Lange, Elizabeth M.S.

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2020.11.023

Cited by 31 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(38 reference statements)

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“…Numerous studies have utilized PEMAT to measure understandability and actionability in educational material. 11,17,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29] At its conception, Shoemaker et al deemed that a score of 70% would signify an acceptably understandable or actionable POEM. The present study detected a mean understandability score of 52.8%.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality-Based Evaluation of Patient-Facing Online Education Materials Regarding Facial Filler Procedures

et al. 2022

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Injectable facial fillers have become tremendously more popular in recent years, and the Internet offers a proportional amount of consumer-facing educational material. This study sought to explore the quality of these online materials. The top 20 Web sites offering educational materials about facial filler were identified via Google search and sorted by source: Medical Professional Boards, Hospitals and Providers, Medical News and Reference, and Fashion. The materials were assessed for overall quality with the validated DISCERN instrument. The authors also assessed understandability and actionability (Patient Education Material Assessment Tool - PEMAT), accuracy, comprehensiveness, and readability (Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and Flesch Reading Ease). The mean DISCERN score was 46.9 ± 7.6, which is considered “fair” quality educational material; above “poor,” but below “good” and “excellent.” Understandability and actionability scores were low, particularly with respect to visual aids. The materials were generally accurate (76–99%), but scored poorly in comprehensiveness, as 15% failed to mention any risks/adverse effects and only 35% mentioned cost. On average, readability was at an 11th grade level, far more complex than ideal (< 6th grade level). Information disseminated from seemingly reputable sources such as professional boards and hospitals/providers were not of higher quality or superior in any of the above studied domains. In conclusion, online educational materials related to injectable facial fillers are of subpar quality, including those from academic and professional organizations. Visual aids were particularly weak. The facial rejuvenation community should make a concerted effort to set a higher standard for disseminating such information.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality-Based Evaluation of Patient-Facing Online Education Materials Regarding Facial Filler Procedures

et al. 2022

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“…Halboub et al [ 53 ] investigated 36 Arabic-language websites on COVID-19 and reported that 66.7% of the included websites were easy for the general public to read. Kruse et al [ 33 ] conducted a study of COVID-19 information provided by 8 US academic medical centers and reported that 0.7% of information was written at or below the sixth-grade level.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Documents were formatted as raw text files using Notepad (Microsoft Inc). Any text not directly related to public education was deleted, such as date, author information, titles, figures, tables, legends, references, and copyright information [ 31 , 33 , 36 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Readability of Korean-Language COVID-19 Information from the South Korean National COVID-19 Portal Intended for the General Public: Cross-sectional Infodemiology Study

Moon¹,

Lee²,

Cho³

2022

JMIR Form Res

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Background The coronavirus pandemic has increased reliance on the internet as a tool for disseminating information; however, information is useful only when it can be understood. Prior research has shown that web-based health information is not always easy to understand. It is not yet known whether the Korean-language COVID-19 information from the internet is easy for the general public to understand. Objective We aimed to evaluate the readability of Korean-language COVID-19 information intended for the general public from the national COVID-19 portal of South Korea. Methods A total of 122 publicly available COVID-19 information documents written in Korean were obtained from the South Korean national COVID-19 portal. We determined the level of readability (at or below ninth grade, 10th to 12th grade, college, or professional) of each document using a readability tool for Korean-language text. We measured the reading time, character count, word count, sentence count, and paragraph count for each document. We also evaluated the characteristics of difficult-to-read documents to modify the readability from difficult to easy. Results The median readability level was at a professional level; 90.2% (110/122) of the information was difficult to read. In all 4 topics, few documents were easy to read (overview: 5/12, 41.7%; prevention: 6/97, 6.2%; test: 0/5, 0%; treatment: 1/8, 12.5%; P=.006), with a median 11th-grade readability level for overview, a median professional readability level for prevention, and median college readability levels for test and treatment. Difficult-to-read information had the following characteristics in common: literacy style, medical jargon, and unnecessary detail. Conclusions In all 4 topics, most of the Korean-language COVID-19 web-based information intended for the general public provided by the national COVID-19 portal of South Korea was difficult to read; the median readability levels exceeded the recommended ninth-grade level. Readability should be a key consideration in developing public health documents, which play an important role in disease prevention and health promotion.

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“…This was a somewhat unexpected result, given that websites that fall under the treatment/therapy/medical category aim to provide health information to a wide audience. However, previous literature has shown that hospital websites tend to have decreased readability, which can make them difficult for individuals to understand [ 32 , 33 ]. Hence, it is extremely important that healthcare providers spend time with their patients to educate them on the importance of these features in making informed decisions regarding their health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Searching for Social Media Addiction: A Content Analysis of Top Websites Found through Online Search Engines

McCarroll

Holtz

Meshi

2021

IJERPH

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Disordered social media use, often referred to as “social media addiction”, has not been officially recognized by medical bodies such as the American Psychiatric Association or the World Health Organization. However, websites still present information to laypeople on how to treat and manage social media addiction, which can pose the risk of spreading low quality or incorrect information. As such, we aimed to assess how the most popular social media addiction websites present information across multiple metrics. We conducted an in-depth online search to identify the top social media addiction websites in November 2019 (N = 23). Websites were separated into four distinct classifications: (1) treatment/therapy/medical; (2) informational; (3) news article; and (4) blog/essay. Based on previous website analysis research, three trained coders evaluated these websites on six metrics: (1) design; (2) credibility; (3) accessibility; (4) literacy; (5) engagement; and (6) social media addiction content. Design features were the top-rated metric across all websites, followed by credibility. Websites scored the lowest for the engagement and social media addiction content metrics. Across website classifications, scores for social media addiction content varied greatly, with blog/essay websites ranking the lowest and informational websites ranking the highest. Our findings provide necessary information for both patients and healthcare providers, apprising these individuals and the field about the current online health information landscape for disordered social media use.

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Readability, content, and quality of COVID-19 patient education materials from academic medical centers in the United States

Abstract: Highlights COVID-19 PEMs are readily available on US academic medical websites. Content of COVID-19 PEMs is highly variable. PEMs on COVID-19 are written above the recommended sixth grade reading level. PEMs on COVID-19 are critical to disseminate accurate information.

Cited by 31 publications

References 29 publications

Quality-Based Evaluation of Patient-Facing Online Education Materials Regarding Facial Filler Procedures

Quality-Based Evaluation of Patient-Facing Online Education Materials Regarding Facial Filler Procedures

Readability of Korean-Language COVID-19 Information from the South Korean National COVID-19 Portal Intended for the General Public: Cross-sectional Infodemiology Study

Searching for Social Media Addiction: A Content Analysis of Top Websites Found through Online Search Engines

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