Appraisal of Readability in Patient-Facing Resources for the Inspire Hypoglossal Nerve Implant

Online searches for medical educational material have continued to increase since the Inspire implant system for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea received FDA approval, and over 50,000 patients have undergone device placement as of 2023. Several professional societies, including the American Medical Association (AMA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), recommend that patient-facing materials be written at or below a sixth-grade reading level. A review was conducted to evaluate the readability, quality, and transparency of online educational resources concerning the Inspire implant.

Fifty websites were identified through a popular search engine and categorized as Academic Medical Center Websites (AMC), Health Journalism/Media Websites (HJ/M), Other Websites (OW), or Private Practice Websites (PP). Readability was assessed using nine formulas from ReadabilityFormulas.com. Three independent reviewers scored each site using the DISCERN Instrument and HONcode criteria, with average scores calculated for analysis.

Except for the Linsear Write Readability Formula, all sites exceeded a sixth-grade reading level. No statistically significant differences were found between any groups across readability assessments. HJ/M websites had significantly higher overall HONcode scores than AMC and PP websites and a significantly higher DISCERN score than AMC websites.

All surveyed websites provided information on the Inspire Hypoglossal Nerve Implant at similar reading levels, although these reading levels were well above the recommended sixth-grade target recommended by the AMA and NIH. As Americans increasingly turn to the internet as a source of medical information, healthcare providers must ensure that patient-facing materials are accessible, comprehensible, and transparent.