Arsenault Marianne, Blouin Marie Julie, Guitton Matthieu J
Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Québec, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
Internet Interv. 2016 May 18;4:99-104. doi: 10.1016/j.invent.2016.05.002. eCollection 2016 May.
Information technologies have drastically altered the way patients gather health-related information. By analysing web resources on tonsillectomy, we expose information quality and dynamics of patients' interactions in the online continuum. Readability was assessed using Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), Flesch Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), and Gunning Fog Index (GFI). Comprehensibility and actionability were assessed using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT). Metrics of forums included author characteristics (level of disclosure, gender, age, avatar image, etc.), posts' motive (community support vs. medical information) and content (word count, emoticon use, number of replies, etc.). Analysis of 6 professional medical websites, of 10 health information portals, and of 3 discussion forums totalizing 1369 posts on 358 threads, from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2014, reveals that online resources exceed understandability recommendations. Women were more present on online health forums (68.2% of authors disclosing their gender) and invested themselves more in their avatar. Authors replying were significantly older than authors of original posts (39.7 ± 0.8 years vs. 29.2 ± 0.9 years, < 0.001). The degree of self-disclosure was inversely proportional to the requests for medical information ( < 0.001). Men and women were equally seeking medical information (men: 74.0%, women: 77.0%) and community support (men: 65.7%, women: 70.4%), however women responded more supportively (women 86.2%, men 59.1%, < 0.001). The dynamics of patients' interactions used to overcome accessibility difficulties encountered is complex. This work outlines the necessity for comprehensible medical information to adequately answer patients' needs.
信息技术极大地改变了患者获取健康相关信息的方式。通过分析扁桃体切除术的网络资源，我们揭示了在线环境中信息质量以及患者互动的动态情况。使用弗莱什易读性（FRE）、弗莱什-金凯德年级水平（FKGL）、简化的晦涩难懂度量表（SMOG）和冈宁雾指数（GFI）来评估可读性。使用患者教育材料评估工具（PEMAT）来评估可理解性和可操作性。论坛的指标包括作者特征（披露程度、性别、年龄、头像图片等）、帖子动机（社区支持与医疗信息）以及内容（字数、表情符号使用、回复数量等）。对2007年1月1日至2014年12月31日期间6个专业医学网站、10个健康信息门户网站和3个讨论论坛总共358个主题下的1369个帖子进行分析后发现，在线资源超出了可理解性建议。女性在在线健康论坛上更为活跃（68.2%的作者披露了性别），并且在头像设置上投入更多。回复帖子的作者明显比原始帖子的作者年龄大（39.7 ± 0.8岁对29.2 ± 0.9岁，P < 0.001）。自我披露程度与医疗信息请求呈反比（P < 0.001）。男性和女性寻求医疗信息的比例相当（男性：74.0%，女性：77.0%），寻求社区支持的比例也相当（男性：65.7%，女性：70.4%），然而女性的回应更具支持性（女性86.2%，男性59.1%，P < 0.001）。患者为克服遇到的可及性困难而进行互动的动态情况较为复杂。这项工作概述了提供可理解的医学信息以充分满足患者需求的必要性。
