EVALUATION OF READABILITY AND RELIABILITY OF TURKISH WEBSITES ON LOW BACK PAIN

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the readability and readability of Turkish websites containing information about low back pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In February 2022, a search was performed by typing the word "low back pain" into Google's search engine (https://www.google.com). Commercial websites, advertising sites, chat sites, forum sites, magazine sites, sites containing only images or videos, and sites with fewer than 10 sentences were excluded from the study. Reliability scores were calculated using the mean syllable count, the mean number of words with 4 or more syllables, and Ateşman's and Bezirci-Yılmaz's scores for readability, JAMA, and DISCERN. RESULTS: The mean number of syllables and words with 4 or more syllables was 2.78 (1.68-3.20) and 3.74 (0.36-6.31), respectively. The mean Ateşman, Bezirci-Yılmaz, and readability scores were 56.10 (29.77-100.00) and 12.80 (1.88-20.01), respectively, and the JAMA and DISCERN reliability scores were 1.06 (0-2) and 43.00 (26.00-67.00), respectively. CONCLUSION: As a result of this study, it was found that the readability, quality, and reliability of texts on Turkish websites containing information about low back pain are at a very low level.