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Quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19: An infodemiological study

BackgroundThis study sought to assess the quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19.MethodsThree search engines were searched on 13 April 2020 for specific Arabic terms on COVID-19. The first 100 consecutive websites from each engine were analyzed for eligibility, wh...

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Main Authors: Halboub, Esam, Al-Ak'hali, Mohammed Sultan, Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M., Alhajj, Mohammed Nasser
Format: Article
Published: BioMed Central 2021
Subjects:
R Medicine (General)
RK Dentistry
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/26640/
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spelling my.um.eprints.266402022-04-01T07:50:54Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/26640/ Quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19: An infodemiological study Halboub, Esam Al-Ak'hali, Mohammed Sultan Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M. Alhajj, Mohammed Nasser R Medicine (General) RK Dentistry BackgroundThis study sought to assess the quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19.MethodsThree search engines were searched on 13 April 2020 for specific Arabic terms on COVID-19. The first 100 consecutive websites from each engine were analyzed for eligibility, which resulted in a sample of 36 websites. These websites were subjected to quality assessments using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks tool, the DISCERN tool, and Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode) certification. The readability of the websites was assessed using an online readability calculator.ResultsAmong the 36 eligible websites, only one (2.7%) was HONcode certified. No website attained a high score based on the criteria of the DISCERN tool; the mean score of all websites was 31.5 12.55. As regards the JAMA benchmarks results, a mean score of 2.08 +/- 1.05 was achieved by the websites; however, only four (11.1%) met all the JAMA criteria. The average grade levels for readability were 7.2 +/- 7.5, 3.3 +/- 0.6 and 93.5 +/- 19.4 for the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, and Flesch Reading Ease scales, respectively.Conclusion Almost all of the most easily accessible web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19 does not meet recognized quality standards regardless of the level of readability and ability to be understood by the general population of Arabic speakers. BioMed Central 2021-01-18 Article PeerReviewed Halboub, Esam and Al-Ak'hali, Mohammed Sultan and Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M. and Alhajj, Mohammed Nasser (2021) Quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19: An infodemiological study. BMC Public Health, 21 (1). ISSN 1471-2458, DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10218-9 <https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10218-9>. 10.1186/s12889-021-10218-9
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic R Medicine (General)
RK Dentistry
spellingShingle R Medicine (General)
RK Dentistry
Halboub, Esam
Al-Ak'hali, Mohammed Sultan
Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M.
Alhajj, Mohammed Nasser
Quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19: An infodemiological study
description BackgroundThis study sought to assess the quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19.MethodsThree search engines were searched on 13 April 2020 for specific Arabic terms on COVID-19. The first 100 consecutive websites from each engine were analyzed for eligibility, which resulted in a sample of 36 websites. These websites were subjected to quality assessments using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks tool, the DISCERN tool, and Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode) certification. The readability of the websites was assessed using an online readability calculator.ResultsAmong the 36 eligible websites, only one (2.7%) was HONcode certified. No website attained a high score based on the criteria of the DISCERN tool; the mean score of all websites was 31.5 12.55. As regards the JAMA benchmarks results, a mean score of 2.08 +/- 1.05 was achieved by the websites; however, only four (11.1%) met all the JAMA criteria. The average grade levels for readability were 7.2 +/- 7.5, 3.3 +/- 0.6 and 93.5 +/- 19.4 for the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, and Flesch Reading Ease scales, respectively.Conclusion Almost all of the most easily accessible web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19 does not meet recognized quality standards regardless of the level of readability and ability to be understood by the general population of Arabic speakers.
format Article
author Halboub, Esam
Al-Ak'hali, Mohammed Sultan
Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M.
Alhajj, Mohammed Nasser
author_facet Halboub, Esam
Al-Ak'hali, Mohammed Sultan
Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M.
Alhajj, Mohammed Nasser
author_sort Halboub, Esam
title Quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19: An infodemiological study
title_short Quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19: An infodemiological study
title_full Quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19: An infodemiological study
title_fullStr Quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19: An infodemiological study
title_full_unstemmed Quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on COVID-19: An infodemiological study
title_sort quality and readability of web-based arabic health information on covid-19: an infodemiological study
publisher BioMed Central
publishDate 2021
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/26640/
_version_ 1735409438713446400
score 13.211869

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