Quality, Reliability, and Readability of Peripheral Nerve Intervention Websites for Patients

Area of Science:

• Medical information accessibility
• Patient education
• Digital health literacy

Background:

• Online resources are crucial for patient education on peripheral nerve surgeries.
• Assessing the quality and readability of this information is vital for patient comprehension.
• Current standards for online health information literacy need evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the readability, quality, and reliability of online resources concerning peripheral nerve surgeries.
• To determine if these websites meet recommended health literacy standards for patient understanding.
• To identify gaps in online information accessibility for peripheral nerve surgery patients.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive search of 137 peripheral nerve surgery websites was conducted using relevant surgical terms.
• Readability was assessed using Simple Measures of Gobbledygook, Flesch-Kincaid, and Gunning Fog indices.
• Website quality and reliability were evaluated using the DISCERN Instrument and JAMA Benchmark Criteria.

Main Results:

• All analyzed websites exceeded a sixth-grade reading level, with median scores indicating a high school level or higher.
• Websites detailing complex procedures like targeted muscle reinnervation were written at a higher reading level.
• The median quality was rated as poor, and median reliability was assessed as low.

Conclusions:

• Peripheral nerve surgery websites do not meet recommended reading levels, exhibiting poor quality and low reliability.
• This deficiency may impede patient understanding and effective utilization of information on nerve repair, nerve transfer, and other procedures.
• There is a critical need for standardized guidelines to improve the accessibility and quality of online medical information.