Gupta Rajul, Sriwastwa Aakanksha, Patel Saral J, Taliwal Neal, Jones Alvin C, Sturm Peter F, Jain Viral V
Division of Orthopedic Surgery, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, 3333 Burnett Avenue, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Department of Radiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Spine Deform. 2025 Apr 15. doi: 10.1007/s43390-025-01082-3.
The majority of patients refer to online patient education content before elective surgeries, including Vertebral Body Tethering (VBT). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality, contemporaneity, and readability of patient information web pages across different sources (teaching hospital, private HCF, commercial/news, and non-profit organization) on VBT.
The search results from Google and Bing were analyzed using a systematic approach, excluding peer-reviewed articles, insurance policy documents, and videos. Forty-seven web pages were reviewed for quality based on preoperative, operative, and postoperative information, alongside compliance with Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria. The web page content was assessed using a contemporaneity score, which evaluated the inclusion of the latest research. Readability was assessed using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade level and Gunning-Fog Index.
The overall mean quality score, JAMA score, and contemporaneity scores were 7.63 (95% CI 6.63-8.64) out of 16, one (95% CI 0.68-1.32) out of four, and 0.61 (95% CI 0.33-0.9) out of five, respectively. The mean Flesch-Kincaid grade level and Gunning-Fog index were 11.7 (95% CI 10.88-12.55) and 14.94 (95% CI 14.12-15.75), respectively. Higher Quality scores also correlated with better Flesch-Kincaid and Gunning-Fox readability scores (Quality score-Flesch-Kincaid grade level: ρ = - 0.38, p = 0.0074; Quality score-Gunning-Fog index: ρ = - 0.354, p = 0.0161).
Existing patient education material contains limited and fragmentary information, lacks essential details, does not reflect the current limitations of VBT, and is written at a much advanced reading level than recommended. The material requires thorough revision, given that VBT is a relatively new surgical procedure with evolving indications and outcomes.
大多数患者在择期手术前，包括椎体束缚术（VBT），会参考在线患者教育内容。本研究的目的是评估不同来源（教学医院、私立医疗保健基金、商业/新闻机构和非营利组织）关于VBT的患者信息网页的质量、时效性和可读性。
使用系统方法分析谷歌和必应的搜索结果，排除同行评审文章、保险政策文件和视频。根据术前、术中及术后信息以及是否符合美国医学协会（JAMA）基准标准，对47个网页进行质量审查。使用时效性评分评估网页内容，该评分评估了最新研究的纳入情况。使用弗莱什-金凯德年级水平和冈宁-福格指数评估可读性。
总体平均质量得分、JAMA得分和时效性得分分别为16分中的7.63分（95%可信区间6.63 - 8.64）、4分中的1分（95%可信区间0.68 - 1.32）和5分中的0.61分（95%可信区间0.33 - 0.9）。平均弗莱什-金凯德年级水平和冈宁-福格指数分别为11.7（95%可信区间10.88 - 12.55）和14.94（95%可信区间14.12 - 15.75）。更高的质量得分也与更好的弗莱什-金凯德和冈宁-福格可读性得分相关（质量得分-弗莱什-金凯德年级水平：ρ = - 0.38，p = 0.0074；质量得分-冈宁-福格指数：ρ = - 0.354，p = 0.0161）。
现有的患者教育材料包含的信息有限且零碎，缺乏基本细节，没有反映VBT当前的局限性，并且写作水平比推荐的要高得多。鉴于VBT是一种相对较新的手术程序，其适应症和结果不断发展，该材料需要全面修订。
