MSc in Special Care Dentistry, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, UK.
Honorary Associate Professor of Oral Medicine, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, UK.
Br Dent J. 2020 Apr;228(8):609-614. doi: 10.1038/s41415-020-1331-2.
Background Healthcare information is increasingly being sought on the Internet. Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) poses a significant health burden. Concern often arises for patients with IHD when undergoing dental treatment, leading to online searching for relevant healthcare information.Objective To evaluate the readability and quality of webpages regarding IHD and dental treatment.Materials and methods Three searches were performed on the Google search engine. The first hundred results of each search were collated and exclusion criteria applied. The remaining 66 webpages were categorised. Readability was assessed using the FRES and SMOG readability tools. Quality was assessed using the PEMAT questionnaire, the JAMA benchmarks and the Health On the Net (HON) seal.Results Most examined webpages were commercial. Readability of 90.1% of webpages was deemed fairly to very difficult. Understandability and actionability scores were generally below the comprehension level of the general population. Less than 50% of websites achieved the authorship, attribution and disclosure JAMA benchmarks. Only 12.1% of websites displayed the HON seal.Conclusions Online health information related to IHD and dental treatment is generally too difficult for the average individual to read, understand, or act upon, and may be of questionable quality. Given the low health literacy rates among the general population, future revisions of educational materials by non-commercial sources regarding IHD and dental treatment are warranted, in order to ensure online health information is understandable and of genuine benefit to patients and/or their carers.
背景
人们越来越多地在互联网上搜索医疗保健信息。缺血性心脏病（IHD）对健康造成了重大负担。当 IHD 患者接受牙科治疗时，他们通常会担心，因此会在网上搜索相关的医疗保健信息。
目的
评估与 IHD 和牙科治疗相关的网页的可读性和质量。
材料和方法
在 Google 搜索引擎上进行了三次搜索。对每个搜索的前 100 个结果进行了整理，并应用了排除标准。剩下的 66 个网页进行了分类。使用 FRES 和 SMOG 可读性工具评估可读性。使用 PEMAT 问卷、JAMA 基准和 Health On the Net (HON) 印章评估质量。
结果
大多数检查的网页都是商业性的。90.1%的网页被认为是相当难或非常难的阅读难度。可理解性和可操作性得分通常低于一般人群的理解水平。不到 50%的网站达到了作者、归因和披露 JAMA 基准。只有 12.1%的网站显示了 HON 印章。
结论
与 IHD 和牙科治疗相关的在线健康信息通常对普通个体来说阅读、理解或采取行动都太难了，而且可能质量也存在问题。鉴于一般人群的健康素养水平较低，有必要对非商业来源的 IHD 和牙科治疗教育材料进行修订，以确保在线健康信息是易懂的，并且对患者及其照顾者真正有益。
