Consulting Dr. Google: Quality of Online Resources About Tympanostomy Tube Placement

Objective

Tympanostomy tube (TT) placement is common in children; however, family-centeredness and utility of online information used for decision making and understanding is unknown. We evaluate the quality of leading Internet resources describing TT placement.

Study Design

Cross-sectional descriptive design.

Methods

We performed a Google (Menlo Park, CA) search for terms related to TTs. We defined quality using scaled readability measures (Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade-Level), understandability and actionability (Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool), shared decision-making centrality (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services informed consent guidelines), and clinical practice guideline (CPG) compatibility. Three reviewers coded each measure. Fleiss κ interrater reliability analysis was performed.

Results

Ten most frequently encountered websites were analyzed. One of 10 met national health literacy standards (mean 10th-grade level reading, median 9th, range 6–15th). All sites were understandable (mean understandability 81.9%, range 73%–92%). Most had low actionability scores (7 of 10, median 47%, mean 44.6%, range 0–80). Shared decision-making centrality was high (mean 5, range 4–6), but most did not list alternative treatment options. Although CPG compatibility was high (mean 3.4, range 1–4), many websites contained inconsistent recommendations about tube duration, follow-up, and water precautions. There was inter-rater agreement for understandability scoring (κ = 0.20; P = 0.02).

Conclusion

Internet resources about TT placement vary in quality pertaining to health literacy, principles of shared decision making, and consistency with practice guidelines. With growing emphasis on patient-/family-centered engagement in healthcare decision making, standardization of content and improved usability of educational materials for common surgical procedures in children such as tympanostomy tube placement should be a public health priority.

Level of Evidence

NA. Laryngoscope, 2017

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