Quality Analysis of Online Resources for Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Background

Online resources are becoming the primary educational resource for patients. Quality and reliability of websites about coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures are unknown.

Methods

We queried 4 search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo!, and Dogpile) for the terms coronary artery bypass, coronary artery bypass graft, coronary artery bypass graft surgery, and CABG. The top 30 websites from each were aggregated. After exclusions, 85 websites were graded with the DISCERN instrument, patient-focused criteria, and readability calculators by a 2-reviewer system.

Results

Accessibility was low; 34.1% of websites disclosed authorship, and 23.5% were available in Spanish. Median total score was 55 of 95 (interquartile range [IQR], 44-68); this score varied by website type (P = .048). Professional medical society (median, 76; IQR, 76-76) and governmental agency (median, 69; IQR, 56.6-75.5) scored higher, whereas industry (median, 51.8; IQR, 47.1-56.4) and hospital/health care (median, 49; IQR, 40-61) scored lower. Readability was low, with median Flesch-Kincaid grade level score of 11.1 (IQR, 9.5-12.6) and 75.3% of websites written above eighth-grade reading level.

Conclusions

Accessibility of online patient educational resources for CABG procedures is limited by language and reading level despite being widely available. Quality and reliability of the information offered varied between website types. Improving readability to ensure patients’ understanding and comprehensive decision-making should be prioritized.