From the Psychiatry Department, Usak University Medical Faculty, Usak, Turkey.
J ECT. 2023 Dec 1;39(4):242-247. doi: 10.1097/YCT.0000000000000933. Epub 2023 May 12.
The Internet is now more widely used than before by psychiatric patients and their families to search for medical conditions and treatments. To our knowledge, no study has addressed the quality and readability of online information about electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). We aimed to examine the quality and readability of English-language Internet information related to ECT.
An advanced search of Internet Web sites containing information about ECT was conducted by using the search term "ECT or electroconvulsive therapy." The resulting Web sites were categorized into 1 of 3 categories (commercial, nonprofit, or professional organizations). Their quality was evaluated using Health on the Net code certification, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria, and the DISCERN tool. The readability of the Web sites was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Formula, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, and Gunning Fog indexes.
A total of 86 Web sites were included in the analysis. Of all these Web sites, 18 (20.9%) had a Health on the Net code certificate, and 16 (18.6%) were accepted as high quality (JAMA total score ≥3). The commercial Web sites had significantly lower DISCERN and JAMA benchmark scores compared with the other Web sites. A total of 30.23% of all the Web sites reached the recommended readability level (Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Formula ≤ 8). Moreover, only 4 scored at the grade 5 to 6 reading level, which is considered ideal for patient educational materials.
Our study indicates that both the quality and readability of online information about ECT are not at the desired level. Physicians, patients, and their families should consider this failure in relation to online information about ECT. In addition, Web site creators and health authorities should be aware of their responsibilities for providing quality and readable health information to the public.
现在，精神科患者及其家属比以往更广泛地使用互联网搜索医疗状况和治疗方法。据我们所知，尚无研究探讨关于电痉挛疗法（ECT）的在线信息的质量和可读性。我们旨在检查与 ECT 相关的英文互联网信息的质量和可读性。
使用“ECT 或电痉挛疗法”这一搜索词，对包含 ECT 信息的互联网网站进行高级搜索。将搜索到的网站分为商业、非营利或专业组织 3 个类别之一。使用健康网络代码认证、《美国医学会杂志》（JAMA）基准标准和 DISCERN 工具评估其质量。使用 Flesch 阅读容易度、Flesch-Kincaid 年级水平公式、简单测量晦涩难懂度和 Gunning Fog 指数评估网站的可读性。
共纳入 86 个网站进行分析。所有这些网站中，有 18 个（20.9%）具有健康网络代码认证，有 16 个（18.6%）被认为是高质量的（JAMA 总评分≥3）。商业网站的 DISCERN 和 JAMA 基准评分明显低于其他网站。只有 30.23%的网站达到了推荐的可读性水平（Flesch-Kincaid 年级水平公式≤8）。此外，只有 4 个网站的评分达到 5 至 6 级阅读水平，这被认为是患者教育材料的理想水平。
我们的研究表明，ECT 在线信息的质量和可读性均未达到预期水平。医生、患者及其家属在考虑有关 ECT 的在线信息时应考虑到这一失败。此外，网站创建者和卫生当局应意识到他们有责任向公众提供高质量和易读的健康信息。
