Readability of Patient Education Texts Presented on the Internet Related to Vaccines

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to compare the readability and the contents of the patient information texts regarding vaccination on Turkish Internet sites.

Material and Methods Websites were searched in the Google search engine using the keywords “what is vaccination?” “benefits of vaccination,” “harms of vaccination,” and “side effects of vaccination” in May 2018. Readability was determined using Ateşman and Bezirci–Yilmaz formulas. According to Ateşman readability formula, the higher the readability of a text, the easier it can be read. Readability of “health-care professional” websites was compared with that of “non–health-care professional” websites. The content of the websites was analyzed by two pediatricians.

Results After the exclusion of the website not fulfilling the criteria, 44 websites, of which 20 were created by health-care professionals and 24 by non–health-care professionals, were evaluated. Ateşman readability scores were 53.62 ± 14.27 and 54.30 ± 8.60 for websites created by health-care professionals and non–health-care professionals, respectively. Mean readability level was “moderately difficult” for both groups according to Ateşman formula, and there was no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.83). Mean readability level was categorized as at “secondary-high school” with Bezirci–Yilmaz readability formula, and there was no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.68). The percentage of the contents of websites prepared by health-care professionals was found to be significantly higher when compared with non–health-care professionals (p = 0.04).

Conclusion It was found that the readability of the patient information texts in the web pages related to vaccination was moderately difficult and that the text content was insufficient. To improve the readability, short sentences should be prepared by health-care professionals with few words and syllables. Existing texts should be revised in the light of current information.

Keywords

vaccination - informational texts - readability - Internet

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