Quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19: an infodemiological study

Esam Halboub,Hesham M Al-Mekhlafi,Mohammed Sultan Al-Ak'Hali,Mohammed Nasser Alhajj

doi:10.1186/s12889-021-10218-9

Abstract

BackgroundThis study sought to assess the quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19.MethodsThree search engines were searched on 13 April 2020 for specific Arabic terms on COVID-19. The first 100 consecutive websites from each engine were analyzed for eligibility, which resulted in a sample of 36 websites. These websites were subjected to quality assessments using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks tool, the DISCERN tool, and Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode) certification. The readability of the websites was assessed using an online readability calculator.ResultsAmong the 36 eligible websites, only one (2.7%) was HONcode certified. No website attained a high score based on the criteria of the DISCERN tool; the mean score of all websites was 31.5 ± 12.55. As regards the JAMA benchmarks results, a mean score of 2.08 ± 1.05 was achieved by the websites; however, only four (11.1%) met all the JAMA criteria. The average grade levels for readability were 7.2 ± 7.5, 3.3 ± 0.6 and 93.5 ± 19.4 for the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, and Flesch Reading Ease scales, respectively.ConclusionAlmost all of the most easily accessible web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19 does not meet recognized quality standards regardless of the level of readability and ability to be understood by the general population of Arabic speakers.

Highlights

This study sought to assess the quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on Corona Virus Disease (COVID)-19
The problem of quality of the web-based health information is not language-exclusive, its impact might be less obvious among English-speaking people due to the fact that most of the scientific output is published in English, and very few are translated after a while into other languages
In respect of the results of applying the DISCERN tool to the websites, it was found that none of the websites achieved a highquality score (≥ 65)

Summary

Introduction

This study sought to assess the quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19. Given that access to and use of the World Wide Web (web, internet or net) is widespread, people have turned to this resource as it holds lots of Halboub et al BMC Public Health (2021) 21:151 information. The web seems to be a very good tool for the public to use to obtain additional medical information that they do not know about their conditions or, in the current context about the COVID-19 pandemic [9, 10]. The problem of quality of the web-based health information is not language-exclusive, its impact might be less obvious among English-speaking people due to the fact that most of the scientific output is published in English, and very few are translated after a while into other languages

Methods

Results

Conclusion