Patient-centered web-based information on oral lichen planus: quality and readability
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Alejandro-Ismael Lorenzo-Pouso [1] ; Mario Pérez-Sayáns [1] ; Omar Kujan [2] ; Pablo Castelo-Baz [1] ; Cintia Chamorro-Petronacci [1] ; Abel García-García [1] ; Andrés Blanco-Carrión [1]
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[1] Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela, España
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[2] University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
Australia
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- Localización: Medicina oral, patología oral y cirugía bucal. Ed. inglesa, ISSN-e 1698-6946, Vol. 24, Nº. 4 (July), 2019
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
To assess the readability and quality of web-based information available for patients about oral lichen planus (OLP).
Three major search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo!) were used to identify websites of particular interest to the study using the search term ‘oral lichen planus’. The first 100 sites of each search engine were considered for the study. The quality of the contents was evaluated using the DISCERN instrument. The Flesch-Kinkaid Reading Grade Level (FKRGL) and the Flesh Reading Ease Score (FRES) were used to assess readability. The presence of the Health on the Net (HON) seal was also evaluated.
Following the application of the study’s exclusion criteria, only 28 websites were compiled for further analysis. The median of the DISCERN instrument was 3 [2-3] which means serious or potentially important shortcoming in the quality of the information. Readability indexes pointed to a high reading difficulty (FRES: 48.14±11.22; FKRGL:11.13±2.90).
The information provided by the Internet to the general public regarding OLP has major deficits in terms of quality, and at the same time is difficult for a comprehensive reading. Further studies are warranted to test well-produced patient-centered information on OLP.
