Evaluation of online content on proctological disorders in Portuguese language.

Introduction Health literacy assumes an increasing relevance as the disseminated access to online contents may impact community health. This study aims to evaluate the suitability of online content on benign proctological disorders. Methods The platforms Google© and YouTube™ were searched using the keywords hemorrhoidal disease, anal fistula, anal fissure, anal pruritus, and fecal incontinence. Each page was analyzed for: interactivity, credibility, readability, and content adequacy. For each video the content, reactions, and comments of the users were analyzed. Three validated scales were applied - Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG); Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM), and quality criteria for consumer health information on treatment choices (DISCERN). Results A total of 127 webpages and 113 videos were evaluated. Forty webpages (31.50%) included images and 10 (37.04%) had informative videos. The SMOG scale presented an average value of 9.91±0.94 which estimates the need of 10 years of schooling for comprehension and 64 webpages (52.07%) presented a reading level higher than the recommended B1. The mean SAM score was 39.46±11.2% and the DISCERN scale averaged 40.33±5.69, corresponding to a reasonable content. Only 20 pages (15.75%) included interactivity tools and 44 (34.64%) contained bibliographic references. The videos posted by patients (n=67, 59.2%) had the highest number of views and positive comments whereas health professionals' videos (n=21; 18.75%) had the highest proportion of requests for additional information. Discussion Online content regarding benign proctological disorders is globally inappropriate for the health literacy level of the Portuguese population, at the writing and reading levels.