Readability and Quality of Microtia Online Information by Large Organizations in English and Spanish.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the readability and quality of microtia website health information in both Spanish and English.

Methods: The term "microtia" was searched using three Internet search engines, and the top 50 English and Spanish websites were short-listed. Readability was evaluated using online tools: the Flesch Reading Ease score for English and the Fernandez-Huerta Formula for Spanish sites. The quality of information was analyzed using the DISCERN quality instrument, and two bilingual neurotologists independently reviewed the websites to assess their quality.

Results: Forty-four English and 19 Spanish microtia health information websites were included. English websites were written at a higher reading level (mean = 47.63 SD = 11.86) than Spanish websites (mean = 62.37, SD = 8.92) (p < 0.001). English websites correlated to the reading level of a college student; Spanish websites correlated to the reading level of an 8th-9th grade student. The average DISCERN score was 41.93 (SD = 12.88) for English websites and 32.53 (SD = 11.06) for Spanish websites (p = 0.0054). No correlation was identified between the readability and quality of the examined websites.

Conclusion: Both English and Spanish microtia websites exceed the recommended reading levels set by the American Medical Association (6th grade) and National Institutes of Health (8th grade). Additionally, the quality of information, especially on Spanish sites, is low. Given that parents rely on these resources to make treatment decisions, physicians should be aware of the variability in readability and quality of online microtia information across different languages.

Level of evidence: N/A Laryngoscope, 2025.