Can people with multiple sclerosis actually understand what they read in the Internet age?

Marcello Moccia; Antonio Carotenuto; Marco Massarelli; Roberta Lanzillo; Vincenzo Brescia Morra

doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2015.10.003

Can people with multiple sclerosis actually understand what they read in the Internet age?

J Clin Neurosci. 2016 Mar:25:167-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2015.10.003. Epub 2015 Oct 30.

Authors

Marcello Moccia¹, Antonio Carotenuto², Marco Massarelli², Roberta Lanzillo², Vincenzo Brescia Morra²

Affiliations

¹ Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Care and Research Centre, Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, Federico II University, Via Sergio Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy. Electronic address: moccia.marcello@gmail.com.
² Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Care and Research Centre, Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, Federico II University, Via Sergio Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy.

PMID: 26526382
DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2015.10.003

Abstract

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently report difficulties in finding personally relevant information on the Internet. With this in mind, the Google top-ten patient-oriented results were analysed for their overall level of readability. The most commonly visited websites required an average grade level of 11.74 ± 1.54, and an average number of years of formal education of 12.78 ± 1.82, to be easily understood. The average Flesch Reading Ease readability index is 45.26 ± 7.35, a difficult-to-read score. The high educational level required to easily understand most websites worsens health inequalities, not allowing a full participation in health information and decision making.

Keywords: Health inequalities; Information; Internet; Literacy; Multiple sclerosis; Readability.

MeSH terms

Adult
Comprehension*
Humans
Internet*
Multiple Sclerosis*
Patient Education as Topic / methods*
Reading