Readability and Quality Levels of Online Patient Information Texts Regarding Hoarseness of Voice

Abstract

Objective: Concepts of readability and quality are used to express the ease of reading of a text and the reliability of the information it presents. Readability and quality can be calculated by taking quantitative data with various mathematical formulas. The aim of this study is to reveal the readability and quality of the texts about hoarseness presented on the internet. Material and Methods: A compre-hensive study was carried out using the keyword “hoarseness of voice” with the help of the Google search engine. During the study, 73 out of first appearing 100 websites on Google which met the inclusion criteria were examined. The quality of these sites has been reviewed with the Health Code on the internet (HONcode). The readability level of the information texts in these sites was evaluated by Ateşman Readability Index and Çetinkaya Readability Index. Results: The average HONcode score of the texts on the sites included in the study was calculated as 4.22±2.14. The Ateşman Readability Index averages of the web pages were calculated as 62.3±8.5 and the Çetinkaya Readability Index averages as 44.7±5.6. Conclusion: Considering that many peo-ple do their pre-treatment research on the internet, the importance of quality and readability levels of these resources is obvious. The results of this study, which was carried out specifically on the subject of hoarseness, reveal the necessity of increasing the quality and readability standards of the contents mostly. It is recommended to raise awareness about the importance of elevating the quality and readability levels of internet resources that produce health content by con-ducting similar studies. © 2023 Turkey Association of Society of Ear Nose Throat and Head Neck Surgery. Production and hosting by Türkiye Klinikleri.