Bergersen Andrew M, Khan Ismail, Wong Ava C, Chipollini Juan J, Weiss Barry D, Tzou David T
Department of Urology, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona.
Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine, Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Urol Pract. 2021 Mar;8(2):246-252. doi: 10.1097/UPJ.0000000000000183. Epub 2020 Aug 18.
The prevalence of kidney stones is rising and there is an increasing demand for reliable, easy to understand information for patients. To evaluate the readability of common Internet-based resources for kidney stones, we examined whether the most popular online educational materials may be contributing to decreased health literacy for this chronic condition.
Websites for readability analysis were chosen based on a Google.com search using the search term "kidney stones." The top 10 websites were chosen for analysis and their quality was assessed by the presence or absence of a HONcode certificate. Readability was determined using 6 readability assessment tools: Flesch Reading Ease, FORCAST, Fry, Gunning Fog, Raygor Estimate and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook. Each website was then analyzed by subsections, with emphasis on the treatment and prevention of kidney stones.
Of the 10 websites analyzed 8 had HONcode certification. Grade level calculations ranged from 7-13.9. All 10 websites were found to have readability levels above the recommended sixth-grade reading level. Mean Flesch Reading Ease score was 59 (range 47-73). With respect to treatment and prevention sections, 6/10 and 5/10 websites had readability levels above a tenth-grade level, respectively.
The most commonly accessed websites regarding kidney stones have readability scores above what is comprehensible to the general public, with most exceeding grade level recommendations from the American Medical Association. Websites pertaining to kidney stones need to be simplified to facilitate patient understanding, especially with respect to the treatment and prevention of kidney stones.
肾结石的患病率正在上升，患者对可靠且易于理解的信息的需求也日益增加。为了评估常见的基于互联网的肾结石资源的可读性，我们研究了最受欢迎的在线教育材料是否可能导致这种慢性病的健康素养下降。
基于在Google.com上使用搜索词“肾结石”进行的搜索来选择用于可读性分析的网站。选择排名前十的网站进行分析，并通过是否拥有健康在线基金会（HONcode）认证来评估其质量。使用六种可读性评估工具来确定可读性：弗莱什易读性、FORCAST、弗莱、冈宁迷雾指数、雷戈尔估计和晦涩难懂简易度量法。然后对每个网站按小节进行分析，重点是肾结石的治疗和预防。
在分析的10个网站中，8个拥有HONcode认证。年级水平计算范围为7 - 13.9。发现所有10个网站的可读性水平都高于推荐的六年级阅读水平。平均弗莱什易读性得分是59（范围为47 - 73）。关于治疗和预防部分，分别有6/10和5/10的网站可读性水平高于十年级水平。
关于肾结石的最常访问的网站的可读性得分高于普通大众可理解的水平，大多数超过了美国医学协会的年级水平建议。与肾结石相关的网站需要简化以促进患者理解，特别是在肾结石的治疗和预防方面。
