An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma

Hutchings, Hayley; REMESH, ANAGHA

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0277823

Journal article 460 views 52 downloads

An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma

Hayley Hutchings

, ANAGHA REMESH

PLOS ONE, Volume: 17, Issue: 11, Start page: e0277823

Swansea University Authors: Hayley Hutchings , ANAGHA REMESH

PDF | Version of Record

© 2022 Hutchings, Remesh. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
Download (642.11KB)

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.1371/journal.pone.0277823

Abstract

Fibroadenomas are benign lesions found in the breast tissue. Widespread access to and use of the internet has resulted in more individuals using online resources to better understand health conditions, their prognosis and treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the readability and visual...

Full description

Published in:	PLOS ONE
ISSN:	1932-6203
Published:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61973
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

first_indexed	2022-11-21T12:30:07Z
last_indexed	2023-01-13T19:23:07Z
id	cronfa61973
recordtype	SURis
fullrecord	<?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2022-12-15T17:41:35.1330158</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>61973</id><entry>2022-11-21</entry><title>An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>bdf5d5f154d339dd92bb25884b7c3652</sid><ORCID>0000-0003-4155-1741</ORCID><firstname>Hayley</firstname><surname>Hutchings</surname><name>Hayley Hutchings</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author><author><sid>5079ba9f39f9cc6da7fe698ecb95ecec</sid><firstname>ANAGHA</firstname><surname>REMESH</surname><name>ANAGHA REMESH</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2022-11-21</date><deptcode>HDAT</deptcode><abstract>Fibroadenomas are benign lesions found in the breast tissue. Widespread access to and use of the internet has resulted in more individuals using online resources to better understand health conditions, their prognosis and treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma.MethodsWe searched GoogleTM, BingTM and YahooTM on 6 July 2022 using the search terms “fibroadenoma”, “breast lumps”, “non-cancerous breast lumps”, “benign breast lumps” and “benign breast lesions” to identify the top ten websites that appeared on each of the search engines. We excluded advertised websites, links to individual pdf documents and links to blogs/chats. We compiled a complete list of websites identified using the three search engines and the search terms and analysed the content. We only selected pages that were relevant to fibroadenoma. We excluded pages which only contained contact details and no narrative information relating to the condition. We did not assess information where links were directed to alternative websites. We undertook a qualitative visual assessment of each of the websites using a framework of pre-determined key criteria based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services toolkit. This involved assessing characteristics such as overall design, page layout, font size and colour. Each criterion was scored as: +1- criterion achieved; -1- criterion not achieved; and 0- no evidence, unclear or not applicable (maximum total score 43). We then assessed the readability of each website to determine the UK and US reading age using five different readability tests: Flesch Kincaid, Gunning Fog, Coleman Liau, SMOG, and the Automated Readability Index. We compared the readability scores to determine if there were any significant differences across the websites identified. We also generated scores for the Flesh Reading Ease as well as information about sentence structure (number of syllables per sentence and proportion of words with a high number of syllables) and proportion of people the text was readable to.ResultsWe identified 39 websites for readability and visual assessment. The visual assessment scores for the 39 websites identified ranged from -19 to 31 points out of a possible score of 43. The median readability score for the identified websites was 8.58 (age 14–15), with a range of 6.69–12.22 (age 12–13 to university level). There was a statistically significant difference between the readability scores obtained across websites (p<0.001). Almost half of the websites (18/39; 46.2%) were classified as very difficult by the Flesch Reading Ease score, with only 13/39 (33.33%) classified as being fairly easy or plain English.ConclusionWe found wide differences in the general appearance, layout and focus of the fibroadenoma websites identified. The readability of most of the websites was also much higher than the recommended level for the public to understand. Fibroadenoma website information needs to be simplified to reduce the use of jargon and specificity to the condition for individuals to better comprehend it. In addition, their visual appearance could be improved by changing the layout and including images and diagrams.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>PLOS ONE</journal><volume>17</volume><journalNumber>11</journalNumber><paginationStart>e0277823</paginationStart><paginationEnd/><publisher>Public Library of Science (PLoS)</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic>1932-6203</issnElectronic><keywords/><publishedDay>18</publishedDay><publishedMonth>11</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2022</publishedYear><publishedDate>2022-11-18</publishedDate><doi>10.1371/journal.pone.0277823</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Health Data Science</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>HDAT</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal)</apcterm><funders>The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.</funders><projectreference/><lastEdited>2022-12-15T17:41:35.1330158</lastEdited><Created>2022-11-21T12:27:46.6776452</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences</level><level id="2">Swansea University Medical School - Medicine</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Hayley</firstname><surname>Hutchings</surname><orcid>0000-0003-4155-1741</orcid><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>ANAGHA</firstname><surname>REMESH</surname><order>2</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>61973__25856__615ee034287e40c7af9fd1248f55204e.pdf</filename><originalFilename>journal.pone.0277823.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2022-11-21T12:29:31.0923178</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>657516</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>© 2022 Hutchings, Remesh. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling	2022-12-15T17:41:35.1330158 v2 61973 2022-11-21 An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma bdf5d5f154d339dd92bb25884b7c3652 0000-0003-4155-1741 Hayley Hutchings Hayley Hutchings true false 5079ba9f39f9cc6da7fe698ecb95ecec ANAGHA REMESH ANAGHA REMESH true false 2022-11-21 HDAT Fibroadenomas are benign lesions found in the breast tissue. Widespread access to and use of the internet has resulted in more individuals using online resources to better understand health conditions, their prognosis and treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma.MethodsWe searched GoogleTM, BingTM and YahooTM on 6 July 2022 using the search terms “fibroadenoma”, “breast lumps”, “non-cancerous breast lumps”, “benign breast lumps” and “benign breast lesions” to identify the top ten websites that appeared on each of the search engines. We excluded advertised websites, links to individual pdf documents and links to blogs/chats. We compiled a complete list of websites identified using the three search engines and the search terms and analysed the content. We only selected pages that were relevant to fibroadenoma. We excluded pages which only contained contact details and no narrative information relating to the condition. We did not assess information where links were directed to alternative websites. We undertook a qualitative visual assessment of each of the websites using a framework of pre-determined key criteria based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services toolkit. This involved assessing characteristics such as overall design, page layout, font size and colour. Each criterion was scored as: +1- criterion achieved; -1- criterion not achieved; and 0- no evidence, unclear or not applicable (maximum total score 43). We then assessed the readability of each website to determine the UK and US reading age using five different readability tests: Flesch Kincaid, Gunning Fog, Coleman Liau, SMOG, and the Automated Readability Index. We compared the readability scores to determine if there were any significant differences across the websites identified. We also generated scores for the Flesh Reading Ease as well as information about sentence structure (number of syllables per sentence and proportion of words with a high number of syllables) and proportion of people the text was readable to.ResultsWe identified 39 websites for readability and visual assessment. The visual assessment scores for the 39 websites identified ranged from -19 to 31 points out of a possible score of 43. The median readability score for the identified websites was 8.58 (age 14–15), with a range of 6.69–12.22 (age 12–13 to university level). There was a statistically significant difference between the readability scores obtained across websites (p<0.001). Almost half of the websites (18/39; 46.2%) were classified as very difficult by the Flesch Reading Ease score, with only 13/39 (33.33%) classified as being fairly easy or plain English.ConclusionWe found wide differences in the general appearance, layout and focus of the fibroadenoma websites identified. The readability of most of the websites was also much higher than the recommended level for the public to understand. Fibroadenoma website information needs to be simplified to reduce the use of jargon and specificity to the condition for individuals to better comprehend it. In addition, their visual appearance could be improved by changing the layout and including images and diagrams. Journal Article PLOS ONE 17 11 e0277823 Public Library of Science (PLoS) 1932-6203 18 11 2022 2022-11-18 10.1371/journal.pone.0277823 COLLEGE NANME Health Data Science COLLEGE CODE HDAT Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. 2022-12-15T17:41:35.1330158 2022-11-21T12:27:46.6776452 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Medicine Hayley Hutchings 0000-0003-4155-1741 1 ANAGHA REMESH 2 61973__25856__615ee034287e40c7af9fd1248f55204e.pdf journal.pone.0277823.pdf 2022-11-21T12:29:31.0923178 Output 657516 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2022 Hutchings, Remesh. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma
spellingShingle	An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma Hayley Hutchings ANAGHA REMESH
title_short	An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma
title_full	An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma
title_fullStr	An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma
title_full_unstemmed	An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma
title_sort	An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma
author_id_str_mv	bdf5d5f154d339dd92bb25884b7c3652 5079ba9f39f9cc6da7fe698ecb95ecec
author_id_fullname_str_mv	bdf5d5f154d339dd92bb25884b7c3652_*_Hayley Hutchings 5079ba9f39f9cc6da7fe698ecb95ecec_*_ANAGHA REMESH
author	Hayley Hutchings ANAGHA REMESH
author2	Hayley Hutchings ANAGHA REMESH
format	Journal article
container_title	PLOS ONE
container_volume	17
container_issue	11
container_start_page	e0277823
publishDate	2022
institution	Swansea University
issn	1932-6203
doi_str_mv	10.1371/journal.pone.0277823
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
college_str	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id	facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id	facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str	Swansea University Medical School - Medicine{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Medicine
document_store_str	1
active_str	0
description	Fibroadenomas are benign lesions found in the breast tissue. Widespread access to and use of the internet has resulted in more individuals using online resources to better understand health conditions, their prognosis and treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma.MethodsWe searched GoogleTM, BingTM and YahooTM on 6 July 2022 using the search terms “fibroadenoma”, “breast lumps”, “non-cancerous breast lumps”, “benign breast lumps” and “benign breast lesions” to identify the top ten websites that appeared on each of the search engines. We excluded advertised websites, links to individual pdf documents and links to blogs/chats. We compiled a complete list of websites identified using the three search engines and the search terms and analysed the content. We only selected pages that were relevant to fibroadenoma. We excluded pages which only contained contact details and no narrative information relating to the condition. We did not assess information where links were directed to alternative websites. We undertook a qualitative visual assessment of each of the websites using a framework of pre-determined key criteria based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services toolkit. This involved assessing characteristics such as overall design, page layout, font size and colour. Each criterion was scored as: +1- criterion achieved; -1- criterion not achieved; and 0- no evidence, unclear or not applicable (maximum total score 43). We then assessed the readability of each website to determine the UK and US reading age using five different readability tests: Flesch Kincaid, Gunning Fog, Coleman Liau, SMOG, and the Automated Readability Index. We compared the readability scores to determine if there were any significant differences across the websites identified. We also generated scores for the Flesh Reading Ease as well as information about sentence structure (number of syllables per sentence and proportion of words with a high number of syllables) and proportion of people the text was readable to.ResultsWe identified 39 websites for readability and visual assessment. The visual assessment scores for the 39 websites identified ranged from -19 to 31 points out of a possible score of 43. The median readability score for the identified websites was 8.58 (age 14–15), with a range of 6.69–12.22 (age 12–13 to university level). There was a statistically significant difference between the readability scores obtained across websites (p<0.001). Almost half of the websites (18/39; 46.2%) were classified as very difficult by the Flesch Reading Ease score, with only 13/39 (33.33%) classified as being fairly easy or plain English.ConclusionWe found wide differences in the general appearance, layout and focus of the fibroadenoma websites identified. The readability of most of the websites was also much higher than the recommended level for the public to understand. Fibroadenoma website information needs to be simplified to reduce the use of jargon and specificity to the condition for individuals to better comprehend it. In addition, their visual appearance could be improved by changing the layout and including images and diagrams.
published_date	2022-11-18T04:21:13Z
_version_	1763754402225586176
score	11.017731

An evaluation of the readability and visual appearance of online patient resources for fibroadenoma

Similar Items