Comprehensiveness of online sources for patient education on otosclerosis.

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the readability indices of websites including educational materials on otosclerosis. Methods: We performed a Google search on 19 April 2023 using the term "otosclerosis." The first 50 hits were collected and analyzed. The websites were categorized into two groups websites for health professionals and general websites for patients. Readability indices were calculated using the website https//www.webfx.com/tools/read-able/. Results: A total of 33 websites were eligible and analyzed (20 health professional-oriented and 13 patient-oriented websites). When patient-oriented websites and health professional-oriented websites were individually analyzed, mean Flesch Reading Ease scores were found to be 52.16 ± 14.34 and 46.62 ± 10.07, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups upon statistical analysis. Conclusion: Current patient educational material available online related to otosclerosis is written beyond the recommended sixth-grade reading level. The quality of good websites is worthless to the patients if they cannot comprehend the text.