bims-librar Biomed News
on Biomedical librarianship
Issue of 2023–04–02
eleven papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society
  1. Health literacy and consumer health information.
  2. Quality and readability of online information on hand osteoarthritis.
  3. Readability of Online Patient Educational Materials in Pediatric Orthopaedics: A Systematic Review.
  4. Trust in and Use of COVID-19 Information Sources Differs by Health Literacy among College Students.
  5. Assessment of available online educational resources for patients with atrial fibrillation.
  6. Google Trends™ and Quality of Information Analyses of Google™ Searches Pertaining to Concussion.
  7. Assessing the use of supplementary materials to improve genomic variant discovery.
  8. Realfood and Cancer: Analysis of the Reliability and Quality of YouTube Content.
  9. Systematic Assessment of the Quality and Comprehensibility of YouTube Content on Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injury and Management.
  10. Mental Health of Prostate Cancer Patients: Content Review on YouTubeTM.
  11. Status quo of the public's knowledge of probiotics based on video-sharing platforms.
  1. Health Info Libr J. 2023 Mar;40(1): 1-2
    Health literacy and consumer health information.
    Maria J Grant.
      The rigours of the past few years have demonstrated the importance of good health literacy levels with the imperative of being able to obtain and interpret information to maintain and improve one's health never more apparent. With this in mind, this issue is focused on consumer health information, the gender and population group differences that exist in information seeking behaviour, the challenges of understanding medical explanations and terminology, and existing criteria to assess and ultimately produce better consumer health information.
    Keywords:  consumer health information; health literacy; review; scoping; surveys
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12477
  2. Health Informatics J. 2023 Jan-Mar;29(1):29(1): 14604582231169297
    Quality and readability of online information on hand osteoarthritis.
    Seok Woo Hong, Jeong-Hyun Kang, Jun Hyoung Park, Hee Jin Park, Eugene Kim.
      Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the quality and readability of web pages providing information about hand osteoarthritis using several authorized methods.Methods: A web page exploration was performed using the Google internet search engine. The three search terms, "hand osteoarthritis," "finger osteoarthritis," and "hand OA," were used and the top 100 ranked websites were selected and divided into six categories. The Health on the Net Foundation (HON) grade scale, an instrument for judging the quality of written consumer health information on treatment choice (DISCERN instrument), and the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) score were used to evaluate the quality of each website. The Flesch-Kincaid reading ease (FRE) score, Flesch-Kincaid grade (FKG) level, Gunning-Fog index, and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook grade level were used to evaluate website readability.Results: Among 300 websites, 57 websites were selected following exclusion criteria. News portal websites, including the online version of newspapers and periodicals, showed the highest score in all three quality evaluation tools. Only four websites were regarded as high-quality websites based on the HON grade scale (n = 3) and the EQIP score (n = 1). Each type of website showed an average FKG level higher than 7th grade and obtained an average FRE score of less than 80 points, indicating an inappropriate level for a layperson to read.Conclusions: The online information about hand osteoarthritis is low quality and difficult to read for the general public. There is a need to enhance the quality and readability of web-based information related to hand osteoarthritis for patients to obtain credible information and receive proper treatment for the disease.
    Keywords:  Hand osteoarthritis; internet; online information; quality; readability
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/14604582231169297
  3. J Pediatr Orthop. 2023 Mar 30.
    Readability of Online Patient Educational Materials in Pediatric Orthopaedics: A Systematic Review.
    Christian J Hecht, Robert J Burkhart, Ryan McNassor, R Justin Mistovich.
       BACKGROUND: As most patients and their families utilize online education materials, ensuring that their readability is at or below the recommended reading level of sixth grade is imperative to enhance informed consent, patient involvement, and shared decision-making. We evaluated and compared the readability of online patient education materials (PEMs) about pediatric orthopaedics for academic-sponsored websites and search-engine result websites.
    METHODS: Following the PRISMA-P guidelines, we performed a systematic review to answer our study question (PROSPERO registration of the study protocol: CRD42022352323, August 8, 2022). PubMed, EBSCOhost, Medline, and Google Scholar electronic databases were utilized to identify all studies evaluating the readability of pediatric orthopaedic online PEMs between January 1, 2000 and September 9, 2022. We included studies with full-text manuscripts in English addressing the readability of pediatric orthopaedic online patient education materials. We excluded general reviews, papers, case reports, duplicate studies between databases, grey literature, and publications in languages other than English. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) tool for cross-sectional studies.
    RESULTS: Our initial search yielded 196 candidate publications. Of these, 11 studies met inclusion criteria. These included a total of 893 PEMs assessed for readability between January 2001 to December 2021. The mean JBI score was 7.3±1.1. Each of the seven studies assessing PEMs from academic-sponsored sources reported mean readability scores of at least an eighth-grade level. Among the 5 studies assessing the readability of PEMs accessed through search engines, 3 studies reported ninth-grade reading level whereas the other 2 reported 10th-grade. Academic and search-engine website readability scores remained constant between 2001 and 2021.
    CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis showed poor readability scores for both academic-sponsored website PEMs and those accessed through search engines. In addition, the readability scores remained constant between 2001 and 2021, indicating that revisions to orthopaedic online PEMs are needed. Supplementation with visuals should be included to educate patients with lower health literacy.
    LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1097/BPO.0000000000002402
  4. Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Mar 11. pii: 831. [Epub ahead of print]11(6):
    Trust in and Use of COVID-19 Information Sources Differs by Health Literacy among College Students.
    Xuewei Chen, Darcy Jones McMaughan, Ming Li, Gary L Kreps, Jati Ariati, Ho Han, Kelley E Rhoads, Carlos C Mahaffey, Bridget M Miller.
      People's health information-seeking behaviors differ by their health literacy levels. This study assessed the relationship between health literacy and college students' levels of trust in and use of a range of health information sources of COVID-19. We collected data from August to December 2020 among college students (n = 763) through an online survey. We used a health literacy measure containing three self-reported survey questions, developed by the CDC. We assessed the extent to which participants trusted and used any of the sixteen different sources of information about COVID-19. Respondents reported high levels of trusting and using COVID-19 information from the CDC, health care providers, the WHO, state/county/city health departments, and official government websites when compared to other sources. After controlling for demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, age, race, ethnicity, and income), those who reported having lower health literacy were significantly less likely to trust and use COVID-19 information from these health authorities when compared to participants who reported having higher health literacy. Students with lower self-reported health literacy indicated not trusting or using official health authority sources for COVID-19 information. Relying on low-quality information sources could create and reinforce people's misperceptions regarding the virus, leading to low compliance with COVID-19-related public health measures and poor health outcomes.
    Keywords:  COVID-19 information sources; health information trust; health information use; health literacy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060831
  5. Heart Rhythm O2. 2023 Mar;4(3): 187-192
    Assessment of available online educational resources for patients with atrial fibrillation.
    Melissa E Middeldorp, Ellen Lyrtzis, Kyle Heath, Tanya Hall, Kadhim Kadhim, Prashanthan Sanders.
       Background: A diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF) often leads patients to search online for information, which can expose them to information of varied quality.
    Objective: We conducted a qualitative systematic review of websites that contain useful information regarding AF.
    Methods: The following terms were searched on 3 search engines (Google/Yahoo/Bing): (Atrial fibrillation for patients), (What is atrial fibrillation), (Atrial fibrillation patient information), (Atrial fibrillation educational resources). Inclusion criteria included websites with comprehensive AF information and information about treatment options. The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Printable Materials (PEMAT-P) and PEMAT for Audiovisual Materials assessed understandability and actionability (score range 0-100). Those with a mean PEMAT-P score of >70, meaning acceptable understandability and actionability, underwent DISCERN score assessment of information content quality and reliability (score range 16-80).
    Results: The search yielded 720 websites that underwent full review. After exclusions, 49 underwent full scoring. The mean overall PEMAT-P score was 69.3 ± 17.2. The mean PEMAT-AV score was 63.4 ± 13.6. Of the websites that scored >70% on the PEMAT-P, 23 (46%) underwent DISCERN scoring. The mean DISCERN score was 54.7 ± 4.6.
    Conclusions: There is a wide variation in the understandably, actionability, and quality of websites, many not providing patient-level materials. Knowledge of quality websites could provide an important adjunct for improving patients understanding of AF.
    Keywords:  Atrial fibrillation; Educational material; Online; Patient Resources; Websites
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hroo.2022.12.013
  6. Neurotrauma Rep. 2023 ;4(1): 159-170
    Google Trends™ and Quality of Information Analyses of Google™ Searches Pertaining to Concussion.
    Mehul Mehra, Pierce A Brody, Simran Mehrotra, Om Sakhalkar, Todd Maugans.
      Sports-related concussions occur with high incidence in the United States. Google Trends™ (GT) analyses indicate changes of public interest in a topic over time, and can be correlated with incidence of health events such as concussion. Internet searches represent a primary means of patient education for many health topics, including concussion; however, the quality of medical information yielded by internet searches is variable and frequently of an inappropriate reading level. This study therefore aims to describe GT over time and evaluate the quality and readability of information produced by Google™ searches of the term "concussion." We identified a strong negative correlation from 2009 to 2016 between GT scores and total number of American high school football participants (R 2 = 0.8553) and participants per school (R 2 = 0.9533). Between 2004 and 2020, the monthly GT popularity score were variable (p = 3.193E-08), with September having the greatest scores, correlating with the height of American tackle football season. Applying five validated quality assessment scoring systems at two time points, it was confirmed that different sources yielded varying quality of information. Academic and non-profit healthcare sources demonstrated the highest quality metrics across two time points. There was significant variability of scores among the different scoring systems, however. The majority of searches at both time points yielded information that was rated as "fair" to "poor" in quality. Applying six readability tests, we revealed that only a single commercial website offered information written at or below the American Medical Association- recommended 6th-grade level for healthcare information. In summary, GT data analyses suggest that searches correlate with the American tackle football season and increased between 2009 and 2016, given that public interest in concussion increased and annual participation in football decreased. The quality of information yielded by Google™ searches and readability are inadequate, indicating the need for significant improvement.
    Keywords:  Google Trends™; concussion; online searches; quality of information; readability
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1089/neur.2022.0084
  7. Database (Oxford). 2023 Mar 31. pii: baad017. [Epub ahead of print]2023
    Assessing the use of supplementary materials to improve genomic variant discovery.
    Emilie Pasche, Anaïs Mottaz, Julien Gobeill, Pierre-André Michel, Déborah Caucheteur, Nona Naderi, Patrick Ruch.
      The curation of genomic variants requires collecting evidence not only in variant knowledge bases but also in the literature. However, some variants result in no match when searched in the scientific literature. Indeed, it has been reported that a significant subset of information related to genomic variants are not reported in the full text, but only in the supplementary materials associated with a publication. In the study, we present an evaluation of the use of supplementary data (SD) to improve the retrieval of relevant scientific publications for variant curation. Our experiments show that searching SD enables to significantly increase the volume of documents retrieved for a variant, thus reducing by ∼63% the number of variants for which no match is found in the scientific literature. SD thus represent a paramount source of information for curating variants of unknown significance and should receive more attention by global research infrastructures, which maintain literature search engines. Database URL https://www.expasy.org/resources/variomes.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/database/baad017
  8. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Mar 13. pii: 5046. [Epub ahead of print]20(6):
    Realfood and Cancer: Analysis of the Reliability and Quality of YouTube Content.
    Sergio Segado-Fernández, Ivan Herrera-Peco, Beatriz Jiménez-Gómez, Carlos Ruiz Núñez, Pedro Jesús Jiménez-Hidalgo, Elvira Benítez de Gracia, Liliana G González-Rodríguez, Cristina Torres-Ramírez, María Del Carmen Lozano-Estevan.
      This study analyzes the quality and reliability of videos related to nutrition and cancer on YouTube.
    STUDY DESIGN: An observational, retrospective, cross-sectional, time-limited study analyzing activity on the social network YouTube was proposed.
    METHODS: The information from the videos was extracted through an API search tool, using the NodeXL software. The criteria to select the videos on YouTube were the keywords "real food", "realfood", and "cancer" and the hashtags #realfood and #cancer were present, videos in English and videos available on 1 December 2022.
    RESULTS: The DISCERN value in the total number of videos viewed was 2.25 (±0.88) points, indicating low reliability. The videos uploaded by HRU represented only 20.8%. Videos suggesting that the use of foods defined as "real food" could cure cancer without the intervention of any other treatment accounted for 12.5%. Videos that provided external links to scientific/technical evidence verifying the information represented only 13.89% of the total number of videos. Of these videos, 70% corresponded to HRU. The DISCERN value for videos from HRU users was 3.05 (0.88), a value that reflects a good reliability of videos from these users.
    CONCLUSIONS: This study provides information on the content and quality of the videos that we can find on YouTube. We found videos of non-health users who do not base their content on any scientific evidence, with the danger that this entails for the population, but it also highlights that the videos published by HRU have greater reliability and quality, being better perceived by the population, so it is important to encourage healthcare professionals and health institutions to share verified information on YouTube.
    Keywords:  cancer; detection; diet; health misinformation; healthcare professionals; public health; social media
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20065046
  9. Orthop J Sports Med. 2023 Mar;11(3): 23259671221147921
    Systematic Assessment of the Quality and Comprehensibility of YouTube Content on Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injury and Management.
    Sohil S Desai, Matthew J Anderson, Connor R Crutchfield, Anastasia Gazgalis, Frank J Alexander, Charles A Popkin, Christopher S Ahmad.
       Background: Ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction has received a unique level of attention in the press and social media. There has also been an increasing use of the internet by patients to seek medical information. Concern exists regarding the quality and comprehensibility of online information when used for patient education.
    Purpose: To evaluate the quality and comprehensibility of the most-viewed YouTube videos related to the diagnosis and management of UCL injuries. Based on our new evidence-based scoring rubrics, we hypothesized that the quality and comprehensibility of these videos would be poor.
    Study Design: Cross-sectional study.
    Methods: The YouTube platform was searched on September 7, 2021, with the terms "UCL injury," "ulnar collateral ligament injury," "UCL surgery," "ulnar collateral ligament surgery," and "Tommy John surgery," and the 50 most-viewed videos from each search were compiled, yielding 250 videos. After removal of duplicates and application of exclusion criteria, the 100 most-viewed videos remained. Basic attributes, including duration of video and number of views, were recorded. Each video was then analyzed by 2 independent reviewers and evaluated for 4 key parameters (quality of diagnostic content [QAR-D], quality of treatment content [QAR-T], presence of inaccurate information, and comprehensibility) and graded on a novel scale from 1 to 4 (4 being the most appropriate for patient education).
    Results: The mean QAR-D was 4.83 ± 3.41 (fair quality), and the mean QAR-T was 2.76 ± 3.26 (poor quality). Physician-led educational videos had both the highest mean QAR-D (6.37) and the highest mean QAR-T (4.34). No correlation was observed between video quality and views/likes. A total of 12 videos included ≥1 inaccuracy. The mean comprehensibility score was 2.66 ± 1.12, with 39 videos falling below the acceptable comprehensibility threshold (score <3).
    Conclusion: The overall quality of UCL injury-related YouTube content was low. In addition, the absence of correlation between video quality and views/likes suggests that patients are not preferentially utilizing the limited high-quality content that does exist on the YouTube platform. In addition, inaccurate videos were prevalent (12%), and almost half of all videos were deemed inappropriate for patient education in terms of comprehensibility, as defined by our comprehensibility parameter.
    Keywords:  Tommy John; UCL injury; UCL reconstruction; YouTube; ulnar collateral ligament
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/23259671221147921
  10. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Mar 07. pii: 4721. [Epub ahead of print]20(6):
    Mental Health of Prostate Cancer Patients: Content Review on YouTubeTM.
    Benedetta Muzii, Francesco Di Bello, Fabio Carraturo, Tiziana Di Perna, Gianluigi Califano, Simone Morra, Francesco Mangiapia, Cristiano Scandurra, Luigi Giuliani, Giuseppe Celentano, Roberto La Rocca, Massimiliano Creta, Nicola Longo, Nelson Mauro Maldonato, Claudia Collà Ruvolo.
      The aim of this study is to evaluate YouTube™ content in terms of the quality of information available about prostate cancer (PCa) in relation to incidence, symptomatology, and potential treatments for patients' mental health. We searched on YouTube™ for terms related to mental health combined with those relating to prostate cancer. Tools for audio-visual-content PEMAT A/V, Global Quality Score, and DISCERN score were applied for the assessment of videos' quality. A total of 67 videos were eligible. Most of the analyzed YouTube™ videos were created by physicians (52.2%) in contrast to other author categories (48.8%). According to the PEMAT A/V, the median score for Understandability was 72.7% and the overall median score for Actionability was 66.7%; the median DISCERN score was 47, which correspond to a fair quality. Only videos focusing on the topic "Psychological Effects and PCa treatment" were significantly more accurate. The General Quality Score revealed that the majority of YouTube™ videos were rated as "generally poor" (21, 31.3%) or "poor" (12, 17.9%). The results suggest that the content of YouTube™ videos is neither exhaustive nor reliable in the current state, illustrating a general underestimation of the mental health of prostate cancer patients. A multidisciplinary agreement to establish quality standards and improve communication about mental health care is needed.
    Keywords:  YouTube; depression; mental health; prostate cancer; social media; urology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20064721
  11. BMC Public Health. 2023 Mar 28. 23(1): 574
    Status quo of the public's knowledge of probiotics based on video-sharing platforms.
    Chun-Hui Jiang, Jia-Jia Xu, Chao Xu, Shi-Yue Chen, Jia-Yun Chen, Jing-Song Xia, Zhuan Liao, Wen-Bin Zou, Xue Fang.
       BACKGROUND: Probiotics have been deemed multipotent and unprecedentedly applied in the health field recently. However, there are challenges in promoting credible and reliable resources while avoiding misinformation regarding probiotics for the public.
    METHODS: This study analysed 400 eligible probiotic-related videos selected from YouTube, and the three most popular video-sharing platforms (Bilibili, Weibo and TikTok) in China. Video retrieval was performed on September 5th, 2022. GQS and tailored DISCERN tool assess each video's quality, usage, and reliability. A comparative analysis of videos from different sources was carried out.
    RESULTS: The identity distribution of probiotic video-producers was predominantly experts (n = 202, 50.50%), followed by amateurs (n = 161, 40.25%) and health-related institutions (n = 37, 9.25%). The videos' content category mainly discussed the function of probiotics (n = 120, 30%), the way to choose suitable products (n = 81, 20.25%), and the methods for taking probiotics (n = 71, 17.75%).The overall quality of videos was moderate (3/5 point) assessed by GQS, while the usage (1/6 point) and reliability (2/5 point) detailing probiotics assessed by tailored DISCERN tool were poor. The attitude of probiotic video-producers was primarily positive (n = 323, 80.75%), followed by neutral (n = 52, 13.00%) and negative (n = 25, 6.25%) (P < 0.001).
    CONCLUSIONS: The current study showed that videos on social media platforms publicise important information including the concepts, usage, and precautions of probiotics to the public. But the overall quality of uploaded videos about probiotics was unsatisfactory. More efforts are needed to improve the higher-quality content of probiotic-related online videos and better propagate probiotic knowledge to the public in the future.
    Keywords:  Knowledge; Online videos; Probiotics; Social media; The public
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15456-7
This page is being maintained by Thomas Krichel. It was last updated on 2024‒11‒22 at 4:18.