Quality and readability assessment of online patient information on cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy

Abstract

Background and Objectives We aim to assess the quality and readability of online information available to patients considering cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS‐HIPEC). Methods The top three search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo) were searched in March 2022. Websites were classified as academic, hospital‐affiliated, foundation/advocacy, commercial, or unspecified. Quality of information was assessed using the JAMA benchmark criteria (0–4) and DISCERN tool (16–80), and the presence of a Health On the Net code (HONcode) seal. Readability was evaluated using the Flesch Reading Ease score. Results Fifty unique websites were included. The average JAMA and DISCERN scores of all websites were 0.72 ± 1.14 and 39.58 ± 13.71, respectively. Foundation/advocacy websites had significantly higher JAMA mean score than commercial (p = 0.044), academic (p < 0.001), and hospital‐affiliated websites (p = 0.001). Foundation/advocacy sites had a significantly higher DISCERN mean score than hospital‐affiliated (p = 0.035) and academic websites (p = 0.030). The HONcode seal was present in 4 (8%) websites analyzed. Readability was difficult and at the level of college students. Conclusions The overall quality of patient‐oriented online information on CRS‐HIPEC is poor and available resources may not be comprehensible to the general public. Patients seeking information on CRS‐HIPEC should be directed to sites affiliated with foundation/advocacy organizations.

Improving online resources for cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC by engaging patients

“…First, Rouhi et al ascribe the higher quality of online information provided by patient foundation/advocacy organizations to the direct involvement of patients, cancer survivors, and family members in these organizations. 1 These findings demonstrate that patient involvement in developing online resources may be essential to ensuring high-quality information. The role of patient and family advisory councils (PFACs), for example, in health system quality improvement efforts has been described at length in the literature.…”

“…As patients seek online information to aid their decision-making on medical and surgical therapies, they often encounter poor quality and incomprehensible online resources. 1,8,9 Efforts should be made to leverage cancer patient voices and perspectives regarding informational needs, while simultaneously providing online decision aids and interactive multimedia educational platforms for patients to interface with and ultimately receive meaningful support towards their medical decision-making.…”

“…The recently published article by Rouhi et al highlights challenges in the development of patient resources for complex oncologic procedures. 1 The authors demonstrated poor overall quality and low readability of online medical information available to patients with peritoneal surface malignancies seeking additional information regarding cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and HIPEC. Among the available online content, websites from patient advocacy foundations and education organizations provided higher quality content than academic institutions, nonprofit hospital systems, and commercial entities alike.…”

Dr. Google to Dr. ChatGPT: assessing the content and quality of artificial intelligence-generated medical information on appendicitis

“…They have also been proposed for use in improving existing patient education materials [4]. Currently available online medical information on a multitude of surgical diseases and procedures has repeatedly been shown to be of variable quality and difficult readability for the public [5][6][7][8][9]. The American Medical Association (AMA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommend that online medical information be written at or below the 6th-grade reading level [10,11].…”