January 11, 2021

Health Websites on COVID-19: Are They Readable and Credible Enough to Help Public Self-Care?

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Public Health Policy and Practice

Keywords (Tags): public health

A study evaluating the readability of websites with COVID-19-related information found reading levels were suitable for high school graduates or college students, which is higher than the recommended readability level. Search terms “coronavirus,” “COVID,” and “COVID-19” were input into Google, and the first thirty website results for each search term were evaluated. Most websites (87.2%) had not been officially certified using the Health On the Net Foundation code of conduct (HONcode). There were no significant differences in readability scores of websites with and without HONcode certification.

Valizadeh-Haghi et al. (Jan 7, 2021). Health Websites on COVID-19: Are They Readable and Credible Enough to Help Public Self-Care? Journal of the Medical Library Association. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2021.1020