Evaluating the Quality and Readability of Thyroplasty Information on the Internet

Abstract

To assess the quality and readability of thyroplasty information available on the Internet. Cross-sectional study. We conducted a Google search for "thyroplasty treatment" and analyzed the first 50 Web sites using the DISCERN instrument, the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) score. DISCERN is a 16-item validated questionnaire used to assess the quality of written health information for patients. FRES and FKGL are commonly used instruments to assess readability of written information. We also further analyzed major versus minor and patient-targeted versus professional Web sites. Overall DISCERN score was 2.20±0.60. Overall FRES score was 29.68±16.64. Overall FKGL score was 13.07±3.95. We found significant differences between patient-targeted and professional Web sites on FRES (43.80±2.78 and 18.58±9.04, respectively) and FKGL (11.46±3.36 and 14.33±4.30, respectively) (P<0.00 and P=0.01, respectively). We also found significant differences between major and minor Web sites on DISCERN (2.35±2.35 and 1.95±0.61, respectively), FRES (24.75±14.61 and 37.71±16.97, respectively), and FKGL (14.19±3.68 and 11.24±3.77, respectively) (P=0.03, 0.01, and 0.01, respectively). Thyroplasty information available online is of suboptimal quality and written at a level too difficult for the average American adult to read comfortably. Major Web sites have higher quality information but are more difficult to read. Professional Web sites are also more difficult to read than patient-targeted Web sites.