Readability Analysis of Online Health Information on Gestational Diabetes

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the level of readability of online information on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Readability of 100 English-language websites was assessed by five readability measures: Flesch-Kincaid Grade level (FKGL), Gunning Fox Index (GFI), Coleman Liau Index (CLI), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE). A majority (90%+) of the sample was determined to have unacceptable readability levels, with averages at least one standard deviation away from recommended levels. Not more than a tenth of the websites measured readability to be acceptable or not equivalent to grade seven and above. Results suggest an urgent need for health professionals who create online information related to GDM to revisit and revise the text to be simplified and more readable.

Keywords:

• Gestational diabetes mellitus
• health information seeking behavior
• online information
• readability

Author contributions

LS and CB conceptualized the study. LS collected the data. JF analyzed the data. All authors contributed to writing and preparing the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received for this project.

Notes on contributors

Lalitha Samuel

Lalitha Samuel Associate Professor, Department of Health Promotion and Nutrition Sciences, Lehman College, The City University of New York, Bronx, NY 10468, USA.

Joseph Fera

Joseph Fera Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics, Lehman College, The City University of New York, Bronx, NY 10468, USA.

Corey H. Basch

Corey H. Basch Professor and Chair, Department of Public Health, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ 07470 USA.