Quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19: an infodemiological study.
BMC Public Health
; 21(1): 151, 2021 01 18.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33461516
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
This study sought to assess the quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19.METHODS:
Three search engines were searched on 13 April 2020 for specific Arabic terms on COVID-19. The first 100 consecutive websites from each engine were analyzed for eligibility, which resulted in a sample of 36 websites. These websites were subjected to quality assessments using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks tool, the DISCERN tool, and Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode) certification. The readability of the websites was assessed using an online readability calculator.RESULTS:
Among the 36 eligible websites, only one (2.7%) was HONcode certified. No website attained a high score based on the criteria of the DISCERN tool; the mean score of all websites was 31.5 ± 12.55. As regards the JAMA benchmarks results, a mean score of 2.08 ± 1.05 was achieved by the websites; however, only four (11.1%) met all the JAMA criteria. The average grade levels for readability were 7.2 ± 7.5, 3.3 ± 0.6 and 93.5 ± 19.4 for the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, and Flesch Reading Ease scales, respectively.CONCLUSION:
Almost all of the most easily accessible web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19 does not meet recognized quality standards regardless of the level of readability and ability to be understood by the general population of Arabic speakers.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Contexto en salud:
2_ODS3
/
4_TD
Problema de salud:
2_muertes_prematuras_enfermedades_notrasmisibles
/
4_pneumonia
Asunto principal:
Internet
/
Información de Salud al Consumidor
/
COVID-19
/
Lenguaje
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Public Health
Asunto de la revista:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article