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CC BY 4.0 · Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2025; 29(02): s00451804516
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1804516
Original Research

Qualitative Assessment of Quality and Readability of Patient-Directed Arabic Online Resources for Cochlear Implants in Children

Saad A. Sanad
1   Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2   Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, Prince Sultan Military Medical City (PSMMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
,
Aseel M. Mokhtar
1   Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
3   Cochlear Implant Center, King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
,
Manar O. Alharbi
1   Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
,
Hisham B. Alem
1   Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
,
Afnan F. Bukhari
1   Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
,
Faisal Zawawi 
1   Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
› Author Affiliations
Funding The authors declare that they did not receive funding from agencies in the public, private or non-profit sectors to conduct the present study.
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Abstract

Objective To assess the readability and quality of various websites providing information on cochlear implantation (CI) in children in Arabic.

Methods The present is a cross-sectional online search. We conducted searches in the Arab language using the three most popular search engines, Yahoo, Google, and Bing, to search the topics of “cochlear implant” and “cochlear implant in children.” The information quality was evaluated through the DISCERN tool, while readability was examined using the OSMAN readability tool, which incorporated two readability metrics: the automated readability index (ARI) and the Läsbarhetsindex (LIX, reliability index).

Results In a study of 50 websites, the median Discerning the Quality of Information on Treatment Choices (DISCERN) quality score was 38, with an interquartile range (IQR) of 29 to 46, suggesting poor quality. Out of the 50 websites evaluated, only 10 were deemed to be of good quality. The median readability ARI was 8th grade (IQR: 6–9), which considered above the level of general population. Certain websites were found to be at or below the suggested 6th grade reading proficiency level. The median LIX was of 69 (IQR: 64–71), indicating that the text is very difficult. There was no correlation between readability and the DISCERN score.

Conclusions Our results suggest that many websites offering information on CIs for children in Arabic exhibit varying levels of quality and are composed in language surpassing the general population's reading ability. Developers should focus on improving the readability of their online content to ensure that the average reader can understand and benefit from the information.

Keywords

readability - quality - cochlear implant - online information - Arabic language

Authors' Contributions

SAS: collected data, drafted the initial manuscript, data analysis, and reviewed and revised the manuscript; AMM: collected data, drafted the initial manuscript, data analysis, and reviewed and revised the manuscript. MOA: collected data, drafted the initial manuscript, data analysis, and reviewed and revised the manuscript. HBA: analyzed and interpreted data and reviewed and revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. AFB: analyzed and interpreted data and reviewed and revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. FZ: conceived and designed the study, designed the data collection instruments, coordinated and supervised data collection, data analysis, drafted the initial manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript.




Publication History

Received: 06 August 2024

Accepted: 02 January 2025

Article published online:
01 July 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Bibliographical Record
Saad A. Sanad, Aseel M. Mokhtar, Manar O. Alharbi, Hisham B. Alem, Afnan F. Bukhari, Faisal Zawawi. Qualitative Assessment of Quality and Readability of Patient-Directed Arabic Online Resources for Cochlear Implants in Children. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2025; 29: s00451804516.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1804516