To the Editor:
Online health resources expand availability of medical information, however, if written at a reading level that is too advanced, may inadvertently lead to confusion or misunderstanding in those with low health literacy.1 In certain populations, this can exacerbate health disparities.1 The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends a sixth-grade reading level or below in the creation of patient resources.2 The objectives of this study were to determine the readability of online reading materials for vitiligo in the English language and characterize the website content of these resources.
In November 2023, an incognito Google search was performed with the following search terms: "vitiligo," "vitiligo causes," "vitiligo symptoms," "vitiligo treatment," and "vitiligo information" (Figure 1). The top 30 websites for each search term were screened. Websites requiring a subscription, duplicates, research articles, resources for healthcare providers, and websites not pertinent to vitiligo were excluded.3 The readability of each website was determined using the validated readability scales available on readabilityformulas. com, including the Flesch-Kincaid grade level, Gunning FOG
Online health resources expand availability of medical information, however, if written at a reading level that is too advanced, may inadvertently lead to confusion or misunderstanding in those with low health literacy.1 In certain populations, this can exacerbate health disparities.1 The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends a sixth-grade reading level or below in the creation of patient resources.2 The objectives of this study were to determine the readability of online reading materials for vitiligo in the English language and characterize the website content of these resources.
In November 2023, an incognito Google search was performed with the following search terms: "vitiligo," "vitiligo causes," "vitiligo symptoms," "vitiligo treatment," and "vitiligo information" (Figure 1). The top 30 websites for each search term were screened. Websites requiring a subscription, duplicates, research articles, resources for healthcare providers, and websites not pertinent to vitiligo were excluded.3 The readability of each website was determined using the validated readability scales available on readabilityformulas. com, including the Flesch-Kincaid grade level, Gunning FOG
