Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Johns Hopkins Health System, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022 Dec;167(6):952-958. doi: 10.1177/01945998221103466. Epub 2022 Jun 7.
To determine readability, understandability, and actionability of online health information related to transgender voice care.
Review of online materials.
Academic medical center.
A Google search of "transgender voice care" was performed with the first 50 websites meeting inclusion criteria included. Readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG). Understandability and actionability were measured by 2 independent reviewers using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Printable Materials (PEMAT-P). Unpaired tests were used to compare clinician- and patient-oriented sites, surgical and nonsurgical sites, and sites that discuss nonbinary indications for voice care. Analysis of variance was used to compare sites that discuss voice feminization, masculinization, both, or neither.
Average scores across the cohort for FRES, FKGL, and SMOG were 43.77 ± 13.52, 12.14 ± 2.66, and 11.30 ± 1.93, respectively, indicating materials were above a 12th-grade reading level. PEMAT-P scores for understandability and actionability were 64.95% ± 15.78% and 40.55% ± 23.86%, respectively. Patient-oriented sites were significantly more understandable and actionable than clinician-oriented sites ( < .02). Websites that discussed only voice feminization were significantly more readable according to objective metrics (FKGL, SMOG) than websites that discussed both feminization and masculinization or those that did not differentiate care types ( < .05).
Online information written about transgender voice care is written at a level above what is recommended for patient education materials. Providers may improve accessibility of transgender voice care by enhancing readability of online materials.
确定与跨性别者嗓音护理相关的在线健康信息的可阅读性、可理解性和可操作性。
在线材料回顾。
学术医疗中心。
对“跨性别者嗓音护理”进行谷歌搜索，纳入符合纳入标准的前 50 个网站。使用弗莱什阅读容易度评分（FRES）、弗莱什-金凯德年级水平（FKGL）和简单测词糊度（SMOG）评估可读性。使用患者教育材料评估工具（PEMAT-P）的 2 位独立评审员评估可理解性和可操作性。使用非配对检验比较面向临床医生和患者的网站、手术和非手术网站以及讨论非二元性嗓音护理适应证的网站。使用方差分析比较讨论嗓音女性化、男性化、两者都讨论或两者都不讨论的网站。
队列中所有网站的 FRES、FKGL 和 SMOG 平均得分分别为 43.77±13.52、12.14±2.66 和 11.30±1.93，表明材料的阅读水平高于 12 年级。可理解性和可操作性的 PEMAT-P 得分分别为 64.95%±15.78%和 40.55%±23.86%。面向患者的网站在可理解性和可操作性方面明显优于面向临床医生的网站（<0.02）。仅讨论嗓音女性化的网站在客观指标（FKGL、SMOG）上比同时讨论女性化和男性化或不区分护理类型的网站更具可读性（<0.05）。
关于跨性别者嗓音护理的在线信息的编写水平高于推荐用于患者教育材料的水平。通过提高在线材料的可读性，提供者可以提高跨性别者嗓音护理的可及性。
