Cohen Samuel A, Fisher Ann Caroline, Pershing Suzann
Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
Byers Eye Institute at Stanford, Stanford, CA, USA.
Clin Ophthalmol. 2023 Mar 8;17:779-788. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S401492. eCollection 2023.
To assess the readability and accountability of online patient education materials related to glaucoma diagnosis and treatment.
We conducted a Google search for 10 search terms related to glaucoma diagnosis and 10 search terms related to glaucoma treatment. For each search term, the first 10 patient education websites populated after Google search were assessed for readability and accountability. Readability was assessed using five validated measures: Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), Gunning Fog Index (GFI), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), and New Dale-Chall (NDC). Accountability was assessed using the benchmarks. The source of information for each article analyzed was recorded.
Of the 200 total websites analyzed, only 11% were written at or below the recommended 6th grade reading level. The average FRE and grade level for 100 glaucoma diagnosis-related articles were 42.02 ± 1.08 and 10.53 ± 1.30, respectively. The average FRE and grade level for 100 glaucoma treatment-related articles were 43.86 ± 1.01 and 11.29 ± 1.54, respectively. Crowdsourced articles were written at the highest average grade level (12.32 ± 0.78), followed by articles written by private practice/independent users (11.22 ± 1.74), national organizations (10.92 ± 1.24), and educational institutions (10.33 ± 1.35). Websites averaged 1.12 ± 1.15 of 4 accountability metrics.
Despite wide variation in the readability and accountability of online patient education materials related to glaucoma diagnosis and treatment, patient education materials are consistently written at levels above the recommended reading level and often lack accountability. Articles from educational institutions and national organizations were often written at lower reading levels but are less frequently encountered after Google search. There is a need for accurate and understandable online information that glaucoma patients can use to inform decisions about their eye health.
评估与青光眼诊断和治疗相关的在线患者教育材料的可读性和可问责性。
我们在谷歌上搜索了10个与青光眼诊断相关的搜索词和10个与青光眼治疗相关的搜索词。对于每个搜索词，评估谷歌搜索后出现的前10个患者教育网站的可读性和可问责性。使用五种经过验证的方法评估可读性：弗莱什易读性指数（FRE）、冈宁雾度指数（GFI）、弗莱什-金凯德年级水平（FKGL）、复杂程度简易衡量法（SMOG）和新戴尔-查尔阅读难度指数（NDC）。使用这些基准评估可问责性。记录所分析的每篇文章的信息来源。
在总共分析的200个网站中，只有11%的网站写作水平达到或低于推荐的六年级阅读水平。100篇与青光眼诊断相关文章的平均FRE和年级水平分别为42.02±1.08和10.53±1.30。100篇与青光眼治疗相关文章的平均FRE和年级水平分别为43.86±1.01和11.29±1.54。众包文章的平均年级水平最高（12.32±0.78），其次是私人执业者/独立用户撰写的文章（11.22±1.74）、国家组织撰写的文章（10.92±1.24）和教育机构撰写的文章（10.33±1.35）。网站在4个可问责性指标上的平均得分为1.12±1.15。
尽管与青光眼诊断和治疗相关的在线患者教育材料在可读性和可问责性方面存在很大差异，但患者教育材料的写作水平始终高于推荐的阅读水平，并且常常缺乏可问责性。教育机构和国家组织撰写的文章往往阅读水平较低，但在谷歌搜索后较少遇到。需要有准确且易懂的在线信息，供青光眼患者用于做出有关眼部健康的决策。
