TY - JOUR
T1 - Online Patient Information on Domiciliary Oxygen Therapy
T2 - An Evaluation of Quality, Suitability, Reliability, Readability, and Content
AU - Ang, Hui Li
AU - Tan, Hann Hsiang
AU - Logie, Karla M.
AU - McDonald, Christine F.
AU - Khor, Yet Hong
N1 - Funding Information:
Author contributions: Y. H. K. is the guarantor for the content of this manuscript, including the data and analysis. H. L. A. C. F. M. and Y. H. K. conceptualized and designed the study. H. L. A. H. H. T. K. M. L. and Y. H. K. carried out data collection. H. L. A. and Y. H. K. carried out statistical analysis. H. L. A. and Y. H. K. interpreted the results. H. L. A. and Y. H. K. prepared the manuscript. H. L. A. H. H. T. K. M. L. C. F. M. and Y. H. K. approved the final version of the manuscript:, Financial/nonfinancial disclosures: The authors have reported to CHEST the following: C. F. M. reports in-kind trial support from Air Liquide Healthcare and speaker's fees to her institution from Menarini and Astra Zeneca. Y. H. K. reports in-kind trial support from Air Liquide Healthcare and grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim and Roche outside the submitted work. None declared (H. L. A. H. H. T. K. M. L.). Additional information: The e-Tables can be found in the Supplemental Materials section of the online article. FUNDING/SUPPORT: The authors have reported to CHEST that no funding was received for this study.
Funding Information:
Financial/nonfinancial disclosures: The authors have reported to CHEST the following: C. F. M. reports in-kind trial support from Air Liquide Healthcare and speaker’s fees to her institution from Menarini and Astra Zeneca. Y. H. K. reports in-kind trial support from Air Liquide Healthcare and grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim and Roche outside the submitted work. None declared (H. L. A., H. H. T., K. M. L.).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - Background: Domiciliary oxygen therapy (DOT) is a complex intervention and has significant impact on patients’ daily activities, quality of life, and mental well-being. Suitable education is pertinent in improving patients’ understanding and use of DOT, because those receiving appropriate education have a better knowledge of their prescription, clearer expectations, and improved adherence to DOT. Research Question: Do currently available online patient resources on DOT provide high-quality information for patients? Study Design And Methods: We evaluated the first 100 results of three major search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing) using the terms home oxygen therapy and information or education. Website content was assessed based on Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and British Thoracic Society domiciliary oxygen guidelines. Validated tools were used to evaluate resource quality (DISCERN instrument), suitability (Suitability Assessment of Materials [SAM]), reliability (Journal of the American Medical Association [JAMA] benchmarks and the Health on the Net [HON] code], and readability (Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level). Results: Thirty-six websites met study inclusion criteria. Websites from foundation or advocacy organizations scored the highest in quality and suitability, with a median DISCERN total score of 48.0 (interquartile range [IQR], 43.5-60.0), or fair, and a median SAM suitability score of 70% (IQR, 53.0%-71.0%), or superior. Industry or for-profit websites had the best content score of 7.8 (IQR, 5.0-8.6). The HON accreditation seal was present on 14% of the websites, and only five websites met the four JAMA benchmarks. The median readability scores exceeded the recommended reading grades of sixth to eighth level for consumer health-related educational resources. Interpretation: The overall quality, suitability, reliability, and content of online health resources for DOT are of a low to moderate standard, with the reading grade at an unsuitable level for the general population. Health professionals should be aware of the limitations of currently available online DOT patient resources.
AB - Background: Domiciliary oxygen therapy (DOT) is a complex intervention and has significant impact on patients’ daily activities, quality of life, and mental well-being. Suitable education is pertinent in improving patients’ understanding and use of DOT, because those receiving appropriate education have a better knowledge of their prescription, clearer expectations, and improved adherence to DOT. Research Question: Do currently available online patient resources on DOT provide high-quality information for patients? Study Design And Methods: We evaluated the first 100 results of three major search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing) using the terms home oxygen therapy and information or education. Website content was assessed based on Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and British Thoracic Society domiciliary oxygen guidelines. Validated tools were used to evaluate resource quality (DISCERN instrument), suitability (Suitability Assessment of Materials [SAM]), reliability (Journal of the American Medical Association [JAMA] benchmarks and the Health on the Net [HON] code], and readability (Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level). Results: Thirty-six websites met study inclusion criteria. Websites from foundation or advocacy organizations scored the highest in quality and suitability, with a median DISCERN total score of 48.0 (interquartile range [IQR], 43.5-60.0), or fair, and a median SAM suitability score of 70% (IQR, 53.0%-71.0%), or superior. Industry or for-profit websites had the best content score of 7.8 (IQR, 5.0-8.6). The HON accreditation seal was present on 14% of the websites, and only five websites met the four JAMA benchmarks. The median readability scores exceeded the recommended reading grades of sixth to eighth level for consumer health-related educational resources. Interpretation: The overall quality, suitability, reliability, and content of online health resources for DOT are of a low to moderate standard, with the reading grade at an unsuitable level for the general population. Health professionals should be aware of the limitations of currently available online DOT patient resources.
KW - ambulatory oxygen therapy
KW - education
KW - long-term oxygen therapy
KW - nocturnal oxygen therapy
KW - qualitative research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122541584&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chest.2021.07.2171
DO - 10.1016/j.chest.2021.07.2171
M3 - Article
C2 - 34390709
AN - SCOPUS:85122541584
SN - 0012-3692
VL - 161
SP - 483
EP - 491
JO - Chest
JF - Chest
IS - 2
ER -