Lee David Michael, Grose Elysia, Cross Karen
Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
JMIR Diabetes. 2022 Jan 11;7(1):e27221. doi: 10.2196/27221.
While diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) are a common complication of diabetes, little is known about the content and readability of online patient education materials (PEM) for DFU. The recommended reading grade level for these materials is grades 6-8.
The aim of this paper was to evaluate the quality and readability of online PEM on DFU.
A Google search was performed using 4 different search terms related to DFU. Two readability formulas were used to assess the readability of the included PEM. These included the Flesch-Kincaid grade level and the Flesch-Reading ease score. The DISCERN tool was used to determine quality and reliability.
A total of 41 online PEM were included. The average Flesch-Reading ease score for all PEM was 63.43 (SD 14.21), indicating a standard difficulty level of reading. The average reading grade level was 7.85 (SD 2.38), which is higher than the recommended reading level for PEM. The mean DISCERN score was 45.66 (SD 3.34), and 27% (11/41) of the articles had DISCERN scores of less than 39, corresponding to poor or very poor quality.
The majority of online PEM on DFU are written above the recommended reading levels and have significant deficiencies in quality and reliability. Clinicians and patients should be aware of the shortcomings of these resources and consider the impact they may have on patients' self-management.
糖尿病足溃疡（DFU）是糖尿病的常见并发症，但对于DFU在线患者教育材料（PEM）的内容和可读性知之甚少。这些材料推荐的阅读年级水平为6 - 8年级。
本文旨在评估DFU在线PEM的质量和可读性。
使用与DFU相关的4个不同搜索词在谷歌上进行搜索。使用两种可读性公式评估纳入的PEM的可读性。这些公式包括弗莱什 - 金凯德年级水平和弗莱什阅读简易度得分。使用DISCERN工具确定质量和可靠性。
共纳入41份在线PEM。所有PEM的平均弗莱什阅读简易度得分为63.43（标准差14.21），表明阅读难度为标准水平。平均阅读年级水平为7.85（标准差2.38），高于PEM推荐的阅读水平。平均DISCERN得分为45.66（标准差3.34），27%（11/41）的文章DISCERN得分低于39，对应质量差或非常差。
大多数DFU在线PEM的写作水平高于推荐阅读水平，在质量和可靠性方面存在重大缺陷。临床医生和患者应意识到这些资源的缺点，并考虑它们可能对患者自我管理产生的影响。
