Otosclerosis online: an analysis of quality, reliability and readability
of otosclerosis information websites
Abstract
Introduction: Several therapeutic options are usually
discussed for otosclerosis management. Patients seek medical advice from
an ENT specialist but are also increasingly using the internet for
medical issues. This study intends to assess readability and quality of
websites with information on otosclerosis. Materials &
Methods: This is a cross-sectionnal study performed in a tertiary care
center. The results of the first 2 pages of a Google search with the
keyword “otosclerosis” were reviewed by two independent investigators.
Readability was assessed with the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL),
Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) and Gunning Fog Index. For quality and
reliability assessment, the 16-items DISCERN instrument was used.
Spearman’s coefficient was used for correlations, and multivariate
analyses of variance were used to assess differences. Inter-rater
agreement was evaluated with concordance correlation coefficient.
Results: 18 websites were included. Two websites
(11.0%) were authored by academic institutions, 5/18 (28%) by
government agencies, 6/18 (33%) by professional organizations and 5/18
(28%) were medical information websites. The mean DISCERN score of the
18 websites was 40.2±8.4/80 (range, 23.5–54), corresponding to “fair”
quality. The mean FRES score was 43.27 ± 10.6, and the the mean FKGL was
11.43±2.30, corresponding to “difficult to read”. The mean Gunning Fog
index was 12.90±2.19 (range 9.81- 18.20), corresponding to a “college
freshman” level. Conclusions: This study shows that
internet information on otosclerosis has an overall low readability,
while the quality is heterogeneous and varies from “poor” to “good”.
Efforts should be made to improve the readability of otosclerosis
websites.