Cargando…

The Readability of Electronic Cigarette Health Information and Advice: A Quantitative Analysis of Web-Based Information

BACKGROUND: The popularity and use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has increased across all demographic groups in recent years. However, little is currently known about the readability of health information and advice aimed at the general public regarding the use of e-cigarettes. OBJECTIVE:...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Park, Albert, Zhu, Shu-Hong, Conway, Mike
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5251168/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28062390
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/publichealth.6687
_version_ 1782497760155533312
author Park, Albert
Zhu, Shu-Hong
Conway, Mike
author_facet Park, Albert
Zhu, Shu-Hong
Conway, Mike
author_sort Park, Albert
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The popularity and use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has increased across all demographic groups in recent years. However, little is currently known about the readability of health information and advice aimed at the general public regarding the use of e-cigarettes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to examine the readability of publicly available health information as well as advice on e-cigarettes. We compared information and advice available from US government agencies, nongovernment organizations, English speaking government agencies outside the United States, and for-profit entities. METHODS: A systematic search for health information and advice on e-cigarettes was conducted using search engines. We manually verified search results and converted to plain text for analysis. We then assessed readability of the collected documents using 4 readability metrics followed by pairwise comparisons of groups with adjustment for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: A total of 54 documents were collected for this study. All 4 readability metrics indicate that all information and advice on e-cigarette use is written at a level higher than that recommended for the general public by National Institutes of Health (NIH) communication guidelines. However, health information and advice written by for-profit entities, many of which were promoting e-cigarettes, were significantly easier to read. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of potential and current e-cigarette users are likely to have difficulty in fully comprehending Web-based health information regarding e-cigarettes, potentially hindering effective health-seeking behaviors. To comply with NIH communication guidelines, government entities and nongovernment organizations would benefit from improving the readability of e-cigarettes information and advice.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5251168
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2017
publisher JMIR Publications
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-52511682017-01-30 The Readability of Electronic Cigarette Health Information and Advice: A Quantitative Analysis of Web-Based Information Park, Albert Zhu, Shu-Hong Conway, Mike JMIR Public Health Surveill Original Paper BACKGROUND: The popularity and use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has increased across all demographic groups in recent years. However, little is currently known about the readability of health information and advice aimed at the general public regarding the use of e-cigarettes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to examine the readability of publicly available health information as well as advice on e-cigarettes. We compared information and advice available from US government agencies, nongovernment organizations, English speaking government agencies outside the United States, and for-profit entities. METHODS: A systematic search for health information and advice on e-cigarettes was conducted using search engines. We manually verified search results and converted to plain text for analysis. We then assessed readability of the collected documents using 4 readability metrics followed by pairwise comparisons of groups with adjustment for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: A total of 54 documents were collected for this study. All 4 readability metrics indicate that all information and advice on e-cigarette use is written at a level higher than that recommended for the general public by National Institutes of Health (NIH) communication guidelines. However, health information and advice written by for-profit entities, many of which were promoting e-cigarettes, were significantly easier to read. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of potential and current e-cigarette users are likely to have difficulty in fully comprehending Web-based health information regarding e-cigarettes, potentially hindering effective health-seeking behaviors. To comply with NIH communication guidelines, government entities and nongovernment organizations would benefit from improving the readability of e-cigarettes information and advice. JMIR Publications 2017-01-06 /pmc/articles/PMC5251168/ /pubmed/28062390 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/publichealth.6687 Text en ©Albert Park, Shu-Hong Zhu, Mike Conway. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 06.01.2017. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://publichealth.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Park, Albert
Zhu, Shu-Hong
Conway, Mike
The Readability of Electronic Cigarette Health Information and Advice: A Quantitative Analysis of Web-Based Information
title The Readability of Electronic Cigarette Health Information and Advice: A Quantitative Analysis of Web-Based Information
title_full The Readability of Electronic Cigarette Health Information and Advice: A Quantitative Analysis of Web-Based Information
title_fullStr The Readability of Electronic Cigarette Health Information and Advice: A Quantitative Analysis of Web-Based Information
title_full_unstemmed The Readability of Electronic Cigarette Health Information and Advice: A Quantitative Analysis of Web-Based Information
title_short The Readability of Electronic Cigarette Health Information and Advice: A Quantitative Analysis of Web-Based Information
title_sort readability of electronic cigarette health information and advice: a quantitative analysis of web-based information
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5251168/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28062390
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/publichealth.6687
work_keys_str_mv AT parkalbert thereadabilityofelectroniccigarettehealthinformationandadviceaquantitativeanalysisofwebbasedinformation
AT zhushuhong thereadabilityofelectroniccigarettehealthinformationandadviceaquantitativeanalysisofwebbasedinformation
AT conwaymike thereadabilityofelectroniccigarettehealthinformationandadviceaquantitativeanalysisofwebbasedinformation
AT parkalbert readabilityofelectroniccigarettehealthinformationandadviceaquantitativeanalysisofwebbasedinformation
AT zhushuhong readabilityofelectroniccigarettehealthinformationandadviceaquantitativeanalysisofwebbasedinformation
AT conwaymike readabilityofelectroniccigarettehealthinformationandadviceaquantitativeanalysisofwebbasedinformation