ArticleAnnals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England2024
Assessing the readability and quality of online information on benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.
Article in Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quality and readability of Turkish online patient information websites on benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Assessing the readability and quality of online written information on epistaxis.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2025Article
- Article
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 at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionBenign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common cause of peripheral vertigo. It can have a significant impact on quality of life, with individuals often seeking information online for reassurance and education. The aim of this study is to assess the readability and quality of online information on BPPV.
methodsThe terms 'benign paroxysmal positional vertigo' and 'BPPV' were entered into Google. The first 50 websites generated for each search term were screened. Readability was assessed using the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) Index and Gunning Fog Index (GFOG). Quality was assessed using the DISCERN instrument. Spearman's correlation between quality and readability was calculated.
resultsA total of 39 websites met the inclusion criteria. The mean and 95% confidence intervals for the FRES, FKGL, SMOG, GFOG and DISCERN scores were 50.2 (46.1-54.3), 10.6 (9.87-11.4), 10.1 (9.5-10.7), 13.6 (12.7-14.4) and 36.7 (34.6-38.7), respectively. Weak correlation was noted between DISCERN and FRES (
conclusionOnline information on BPPV is generally of poor quality and low readability. It is essential that healthcare professionals inform their patients of this limitation and advocate for improved online patient education resources that are both high quality and easy to comprehend.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.