ArticleCureus2022
Quality and Readability of Online Patient Education Materials Related to Branchial Cleft Cysts.
Article in Cureus, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Patient Educational Materials for Pheochromocytoma Exceed Recommended Readability Level: An Analysis Across Three Independent Reading Instruments.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Readability in Patient Education Materials for Primary Hyperparathyroidism.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2026Article
- Lessons to be learned when designing comprehensible patient-oriented online information about temporomandibular disorders.Journal of oral rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Comprehensiveness of online sources for patient education on hereditary hearing impairment.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction Branchial cleft cysts are the second most common congenital neck mass and can cause significant anxiety for patients and families despite their benign nature. Education through online patient education materials (PEMs) is critical for informing patients and reducing stress. We aimed to determine the content, quality, and readability of online PEMs related to branchial cleft cysts. Methods The search engine Google was used to collect the first 100 website results for the query "branchial cleft cyst." PEMs were included and assessed for content, quality via the DISCERN tool, and readability via Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Reading Grade Level (FKGL), Gunning Frequency of Gobbledygook (GFOG), and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG). Results Twenty-six websites containing PEMs related to branchial cleft cysts were assessed. Most websites were from universities or medical centers and did not contain any media. The mean DISCERN score was 49.3 (SD: 11.1, Median: 52.5), the mean FRES score was 51.9 (SD: 12.1, Median: 54.0), the mean FKGL score was 10.35 (SD: 2.52, Median: 9.95), the mean GFOG score was 13.32 (SD: 2.52, Median: 13.00), and the mean SMOG score was 10.25 (SD: 1.83, Median: 9.95). DISCERN was not significantly correlated with FRES, FKGL, GFOG, or SMOG. Conclusion Online PEMs related to branchial cleft cysts are consistently written above the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommended sixth-grade reading level and are often of unsatisfactory overall quality. Writers of online PEMs for branchial cleft cysts should consider the readability and quality of their materials to improve patient education and reduce anxiety.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.