Alamoudi Uthman, Hong Paul
IWK Health Centre, Dalhousie Pediatric Craniofacial Group, Department of Surgery, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
IWK Health Centre, Dalhousie Pediatric Craniofacial Group, Department of Surgery, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; School of Human Communication Disorders, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2015 Feb;79(2):151-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2014.11.027. Epub 2014 Dec 19.
Many parents and children utilize the Internet for health-related information, but the quality of these websites can vary. The objective of this study was to assess the quality and readability of microtia and aural atresia related websites.
The search engine Google was queried with the terms 'microtia' and 'aural atresia.' The first 30 results were evaluated, and those websites containing original information written in English were reviewed. Quality of content was assessed with the DISCERN instrument, and readability was assessed with the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Grade Level (FKGL) and the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) tests. Each website was also reviewed for ownership and the date of last update.
Sixteen microtia and 14 aural atresia websites were included for full review. The mean DISCERN score for microtia websites was 54.4 (SD=8.3), and for aural atresia websites it was 47.6 (SD=10.7), which indicates 'good' and 'fair' quality of content, respectively. Readability assessments showed an average reading level requiring a grade 10 education on FKGL, and only one microtia (6.3%) and one aural atresia (7.1%) websites were deemed to be at 'reasonable' reading level on FRES.
High-quality websites that are considered easily comprehensible to the general public were lacking. Since parents and children may use websites when making treatment decisions, physicians should be aware of the quality of health information pertaining to their area of expertise available on the Internet.
许多家长和孩子利用互联网获取与健康相关的信息，但这些网站的质量参差不齐。本研究的目的是评估小耳畸形和外耳道闭锁相关网站的质量和可读性。
使用搜索引擎谷歌，输入“小耳畸形”和“外耳道闭锁”等关键词进行查询。对前30个搜索结果进行评估，并对那些用英文撰写的包含原始信息的网站进行审查。使用DISCERN工具评估内容质量，使用弗莱什-金凯德阅读年级水平（FKGL）和弗莱什阅读简易度得分（FRES）测试评估可读性。还对每个网站的所有权和最后更新日期进行了审查。
共纳入16个小耳畸形网站和14个外耳道闭锁网站进行全面审查。小耳畸形网站的平均DISCERN评分为54.4（标准差=8.3），外耳道闭锁网站的平均DISCERN评分为47.6（标准差=10.7），分别表明内容质量为“良好”和“一般”。可读性评估显示，平均阅读水平要求具备10年级教育程度的FKGL，在FRES测试中，只有一个小耳畸形网站（6.3%）和一个外耳道闭锁网站（7.1%）被认为处于“合理”阅读水平。
缺乏被认为普通大众易于理解的高质量网站。由于家长和孩子在做出治疗决策时可能会使用网站，医生应该了解互联网上与其专业领域相关的健康信息的质量。
