Quality Assessment of Online Patient Education Materials for Diabetic Foot

Background: The quality of online Arabic educational materials for diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) is unknown. This study evaluated Arabic websites as patients’ sources of information for DFS. Methods: The study assessed patient-related websites about DFS using a modified Ensuring Quality of Information for Patients (EQIP) tool (score 0 - 35). Specific terms were searched in Google to identify DFS websites;eligibility criteria were applied to 20 pages of search results to select the included websites. Data on country of origin, source types and subtypes, and website traffic were extracted. Additional therapeutic information regarding prevention and conservative, pharmacological, and surgical treatments was also recorded and analyzed. Results: Among 559 websites, 157 were eligible for inclusion. The median EQIP score was 16 out of 35, indicating poor quality in one of three domains (content, identification, or structure). Most sources originated from Arab countries (75.8%) were non-governmental (94.9%), and were medical information websites (46.5%). High-scoring websites were significantly more likely than low-scoring websites to describe information on prevention (30.9% vs. 2.9%, p = 0.001), conservative treatment (34.1% vs. 13%, p = 0.002), or pharmacological treatment (32.5% vs. 16.8%, p = 0.024). There were increased odds of scoring high if a website provided information on prevention (OR = 12.9, 95% CI [1.68 - 98.57], p = 0.014). Conclusion: Most Arabic online patient information on DFS is of poor quality. Quality control measures are needed to ensure accurate health information for the public.

How Do Patients Prefer to Receive Patient Education Material about Treatment, Diagnosis and Procedures? <br/>—A Survey Study of Patients Preferences Regarding Forms of Patient Education Materials;Leaflets, Podcasts, and Video

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore patients’ preferences for forms of patient education material, including leaflets, podcasts, and videos;that is, to determine what forms of information, besides that provided verbally by healthcare personnel, do patients prefer following visits to hospital? Methods: The study was a mixed-methods study, using a survey design with primarily quantitative items but with a qualitative component. A survey was distributed to patients over 18 years between May and July 2020 and 480 patients chose to respond. Results: Text-based patient education materials (leaflets), is the form that patients have the most experience with and was preferred by 86.46% of respondents;however, 50.21% and 31.67% of respondents would also like to receive patient education material in video and podcast formats, respectively. Furthermore, several respondents wrote about the need for different forms of patient education material, depending on the subject of the supplementary information. Conclusion: This study provides an overview of patient preferences regarding forms of patient education material. The results show that the majority of respondents prefer to use combinations of written, audio, and video material, thus applying and co-constructing a multimodal communication system, from which they select and apply different modes of communication from different sources simultaneously.

A critical readability and quality analysis of internet-based patient information on neck dissections

Objective:Patients are increasingly turning to the Internet as a source of healthcare information.Given that neck dissection is a common procedure within the field of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery,the aim of this study was to evaluate the quality and readability of online patient education materials on neck dissection.Methods:A Google search was performed using the term"neck dissection."The first 10 pages of a Google search using the term"neck dissection"were analyzed.The DISCERN instrument was used to assess quality of information.Readability was calculated using the Flesch-Reading Ease,Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level,Gunning-Fog Index,Coleman-Liau Index,and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook Index.Results:Thirty-one online patient education materials were included.Fifty-five percent(n=17)of results originated from academic institutions or hospitals.The mean Flesch-Reading Ease score was 61.2±11.9.Fifty-two percent(n=16)of patient education materials had Flesch-Reading Ease scores above the recommended score of 65.The average reading grade level was 10.5±2.1.The average total DISCERN score was 43.6±10.1.Only 26%of patient education materials(PEMs)had DISCERN scores corresponding to a"good quality"rating.There was a significant positive correlation between DISCERN scores and both Flesch-Reading Ease scores and average reading grade level.Conclusions:The majority of patient education materials were written above the recommended sixth-grade reading level and the quality of online information pertaining to neck dissections was found to be suboptimal.This research highlights the need for patient education materials regarding neck dissection that are high quality and easily understandable by patients.