An objective analysis of quality and readability of online information on COVID-19

High quality, readable health information is vital to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the quality and readability of online COVID-19 information using 6 validated tools. This is a cross-sectional study. “COVID-19” was searched across the three most p...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Wrigley Kelly, N. E., Murray, K. E., McCarthy, C., O’Shea, D. B.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2021
Materias:
Original Paper
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8222704/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34189011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12553-021-00574-2
_version_ 1783711542390292480
author Wrigley Kelly, N. E.
Murray, K. E.
McCarthy, C.
O’Shea, D. B.
author_facet Wrigley Kelly, N. E.
Murray, K. E.
McCarthy, C.
O’Shea, D. B.
author_sort Wrigley Kelly, N. E.
collection PubMed
description High quality, readable health information is vital to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the quality and readability of online COVID-19 information using 6 validated tools. This is a cross-sectional study. “COVID-19” was searched across the three most popular English language search engines. Quality was evaluated using the DISCERN score, Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria and Health On the Net Foundation Code of Conduct. Readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease Score, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and Gunning-Fog Index. 41 websites were suitable for analysis. 9.8% fulfilled all JAMA criteria. Only one website was HONCode certified. Mean DISCERN score was 47.8/80 (“fair”). This was highest in websites published by a professional society/medical journal/healthcare provider. Readability varied from an 8th to 12th grade level. The overall quality of online COVID-19 information was “fair”. Much of this information was above the recommended 5th to 6th grade level, impeding access for many.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8222704
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Springer Berlin Heidelberg
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-82227042021-06-25 An objective analysis of quality and readability of online information on COVID-19 Wrigley Kelly, N. E. Murray, K. E. McCarthy, C. O’Shea, D. B. Health Technol (Berl) Original Paper High quality, readable health information is vital to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the quality and readability of online COVID-19 information using 6 validated tools. This is a cross-sectional study. “COVID-19” was searched across the three most popular English language search engines. Quality was evaluated using the DISCERN score, Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria and Health On the Net Foundation Code of Conduct. Readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease Score, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and Gunning-Fog Index. 41 websites were suitable for analysis. 9.8% fulfilled all JAMA criteria. Only one website was HONCode certified. Mean DISCERN score was 47.8/80 (“fair”). This was highest in websites published by a professional society/medical journal/healthcare provider. Readability varied from an 8th to 12th grade level. The overall quality of online COVID-19 information was “fair”. Much of this information was above the recommended 5th to 6th grade level, impeding access for many. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2021-06-24 2021 /pmc/articles/PMC8222704/ /pubmed/34189011 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12553-021-00574-2 Text en © The Author(s) 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Original Paper
Wrigley Kelly, N. E.
Murray, K. E.
McCarthy, C.
O’Shea, D. B.
An objective analysis of quality and readability of online information on COVID-19
title An objective analysis of quality and readability of online information on COVID-19
title_full An objective analysis of quality and readability of online information on COVID-19
title_fullStr An objective analysis of quality and readability of online information on COVID-19
title_full_unstemmed An objective analysis of quality and readability of online information on COVID-19
title_short An objective analysis of quality and readability of online information on COVID-19
title_sort objective analysis of quality and readability of online information on covid-19
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8222704/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34189011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12553-021-00574-2
work_keys_str_mv AT wrigleykellyne anobjectiveanalysisofqualityandreadabilityofonlineinformationoncovid19
AT murrayke anobjectiveanalysisofqualityandreadabilityofonlineinformationoncovid19
AT mccarthyc anobjectiveanalysisofqualityandreadabilityofonlineinformationoncovid19
AT osheadb anobjectiveanalysisofqualityandreadabilityofonlineinformationoncovid19
AT wrigleykellyne objectiveanalysisofqualityandreadabilityofonlineinformationoncovid19
AT murrayke objectiveanalysisofqualityandreadabilityofonlineinformationoncovid19
AT mccarthyc objectiveanalysisofqualityandreadabilityofonlineinformationoncovid19
AT osheadb objectiveanalysisofqualityandreadabilityofonlineinformationoncovid19

Ejemplares similares