Analyzing opioid-use disorder websites in the United States: An optimized website usability study

BACKGROUND: As the United States continues to tackle the opioid epidemic, it is imperative for digital healthcare organizations to provide Internet users with accurate and accessible online resources so that they can make informed decisions with regards to their health. OBJECTIVE: The primary objectives were to adapt and modify a previously established usability methodology from literature, apply this modified methodology in order to perform usability analysis of opioid-use-disorder (OUD)-related websites, and make important recommendations that OUD-related digital health organizations may utilize to improve their online presence. METHODS: A list of 208 websites (later refined) was generated for usability testing using a modified Google Search methodology. Four keywords were chosen and used in the search: “DEA-X Waiver Training”, “opioid-use-disorder (OUD) Initiatives”, “Buprenorphine Assisted Treatment”, and “Opioid-Use Disorder Websites”. Usability analysis was performed concurrently with optimization of the methodology. OUD websites were analyzed and scored on several usability categories established by previous literature. RESULTS: “DEA-X Waiver Training” yielded websites that scored the highest average in “Accessibility” (0.84), while “Opioid-Use Disorder Websites” yielded websites that scored the highest average in “Content Quality” (0.67). “Buprenorphine Assisted Treatment” yielded websites that scored the highest average across “Marketing” (0.52), “Technology” (0.89), “General Usability” (0.69), and “Overall Usability” (0.68). “Technology” and “Marketing” were the highest and lowest scoring usability categories, respectively. T-test analysis revealed that each usability, except “Marketing” had a pair of one or more keywords that were significantly different with a p-value that was equal to or less than 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the study findings, we recommend that digital organizations in the OUD space should improve their “General Usability” score by making their websites easier to find online. Doing so, may allow users, especially individuals in the OUD space, to discover accurate information that they are seeking. Based on the study findings, we also made important recommendations that OUD-related digital organizations may utilize in order to improve website usability as well as overall reach.