TY - JOUR
T1 - The readability of electronic cigarette health information and advice
T2 - A quantitative analysis of web-based information
AU - Park, Albert
AU - Zhu, Shu Hong
AU - Conway, Mike
N1 - Funding Information:
Dr Park was funded by the National Institute for Health-National Library of Medicine T15 LM007124. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© Albert Park, Shu-Hong Zhu, Mike Conway. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 06.01.2017. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
PY - 2017/1
Y1 - 2017/1
N2 - Background: The popularity and use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has increased across all demographic groups in recent years. However, little is currently known about the readability of health information and advice aimed at the general public regarding the use of e-cigarettes. Objective: The objective of our study was to examine the readability of publicly available health information as well as advice on e-cigarettes. We compared information and advice available from US government agencies, nongovernment organizations, English speaking government agencies outside the United States, and for-profit entities. Methods: A systematic search for health information and advice on e-cigarettes was conducted using search engines. We manually verified search results and converted to plain text for analysis. We then assessed readability of the collected documents using 4 readability metrics followed by pairwise comparisons of groups with adjustment for multiple comparisons. Results: A total of 54 documents were collected for this study. All 4 readability metrics indicate that all information and advice on e-cigarette use is written at a level higher than that recommended for the general public by National Institutes of Health (NIH) communication guidelines. However, health information and advice written by for-profit entities, many of which were promoting e-cigarettes, were significantly easier to read. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of potential and current e-cigarette users are likely to have difficulty in fully comprehending Web-based health information regarding e-cigarettes, potentially hindering effective health-seeking behaviors. To comply with NIH communication guidelines, government entities and nongovernment organizations would benefit from improving the readability of e-cigarettes information and advice.
AB - Background: The popularity and use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has increased across all demographic groups in recent years. However, little is currently known about the readability of health information and advice aimed at the general public regarding the use of e-cigarettes. Objective: The objective of our study was to examine the readability of publicly available health information as well as advice on e-cigarettes. We compared information and advice available from US government agencies, nongovernment organizations, English speaking government agencies outside the United States, and for-profit entities. Methods: A systematic search for health information and advice on e-cigarettes was conducted using search engines. We manually verified search results and converted to plain text for analysis. We then assessed readability of the collected documents using 4 readability metrics followed by pairwise comparisons of groups with adjustment for multiple comparisons. Results: A total of 54 documents were collected for this study. All 4 readability metrics indicate that all information and advice on e-cigarette use is written at a level higher than that recommended for the general public by National Institutes of Health (NIH) communication guidelines. However, health information and advice written by for-profit entities, many of which were promoting e-cigarettes, were significantly easier to read. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of potential and current e-cigarette users are likely to have difficulty in fully comprehending Web-based health information regarding e-cigarettes, potentially hindering effective health-seeking behaviors. To comply with NIH communication guidelines, government entities and nongovernment organizations would benefit from improving the readability of e-cigarettes information and advice.
KW - Consumer health information
KW - Electronic cigarettes
KW - Health education
KW - Health services
KW - Tobacco use cessation products
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047773211&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2196/publichealth.6687
DO - 10.2196/publichealth.6687
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85047773211
VL - 3
JO - JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
JF - JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
SN - 2369-2960
IS - 1
M1 - e1
ER -