Online information on dysmenorrhoea: An evaluation of readability, credibility, quality and usability.
Jordan Lovett, Candice Gordon, Shelby Patton and 1 others
PMID 31162870WHAT IT FOUND
Online dysmenorrhea info is often too complex (10th-grade level) and lacks evidence.
Commercial sites were most inaccurate. Nurses should screen patient web sources, simplify education, and direct women to verified agency pages.
Key findings
01The average reading level of evaluated webpages was 9.83 (grade level), which exceeds the recommended fifth-grade level for patient education materials.
02Commercial websites presented the most inaccurate content, and none of the webpages employed user-driven content production.
03Only 8% of webpages had references from scientific literature, and 44% declared the objectives of the website owners.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The search was limited to English-language webpages and three popular search engines in the US. Only the first page of search results was reviewed. The study captured a snapshot of the internet in January 2018, and web content changes frequently. Linked pages within the selected websites were not evaluated.
Declared interests
None declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a website with a professional design or high search ranking is accurate. This study found that commercial sites, which often looked credible, contained the most inaccurate information and biased product promotion.