An Analysis of the Readability of Phacoemulsification Online Resources

Introduction: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Phacoemulsification is now the gold standard for cataract extraction and is greatly needed in low socioeconomic status (SES) communities, rural and older patient populations, and patients with poor vision. This greatly increases the importance of high readability for online resources on this topic. This study aims to assess the readability of online information about phacoemulsification based on readability scores for each resource. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study. The term “phacoemulsification” was searched online, and each website was categorized by type: academic, physician, non-physician, commercial, social media, and unspecified. The readability scores for each website were calculated using six different readability tests and a composite score that reflects reading grade level was obtained. To evaluate the difference between the categories of websites, analysis of variance (ANOVA) testing was used. All test scores were compared with the 6(th )grade standard recommendation using a one-sample t-test. Results: A total of 20 websites were analyzed. Three websites (3/20; 15%) had a score which is correlated with a 6(th) grade reading level or below. Seventeen websites had a score correlated with a college reading level or above (17/20; 85%). None of the readability scores had a mean below a 6(th) grade reading level. No category had an average readability score at or below a 6(th) grade reading level. None of the mean readability scores resulted in a statistically significant difference across categories. All readability tests had an average score which was significantly different from a 6(th) grade reading level (p<0.001). Conclusions: This is the first study to focus on the accessibility of online English resources on phacoemulsification and implement multiple standardized readability scores with regards to cataract surgery resources. It provides further overwhelming evidence that online resources on phacoemulsification are too complex for the average patient to understand. Interventions should be implemented to improve readability.