Skip to main content

Table 3 Readability of webpages describing PCOS information by producer type

From: Analysis of the quality, accuracy, and readability of patient information on polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) on the internet available in English: a cross-sectional study

Readability scores median (IQR)*

Commercial

Organization (.org)

Scientific resources

Private foundation

P

Flesch-Kincaid reading ease

48 (41–52)

49 (42–56)

53 (47–60)

49 (40–57)

0.248

 

Flesch-Kincaid grade level

10 (8–11)

10 (8–11)

9 (8–10)

10 (10–12)

0.132

Gunning-Fog score

12 (11–13)

12 (10–13)

11 (19 − 13)

13.05 (12–14)

0.174

Coleman-Liau

12 (11–13)

12 (11–13)

11 (10–12)

11.87 (11–13)

0.437

SMOG

12 (12–13)

12 (11–13)

12 (11–13)

13 (12–14)

0.151

Automated readability index

9 (8–11)

9 (8–10)

8 (7–9)

10 (9–11)

0.161

Dale-Chall Readability

7 (6–7)

7 (6–7)

7 (6–7)

7 (6–7)

0.561

Word count

1020 (748–1577)

983 (657–1449)

897 (779–1212)

1095 (711–1210)

0.953

Syllables per word

1.70 (1.70–1.80)

1.70 (1.60–1.80)

1.70 (1.60–1.70)

1.70 (1.60–1.80)

0.391

Words with more than four syllables

15 (10–24)

14 (7–24)

17 (7–20)

11 (6–17)

0.529

Words per sentence

13 (11–15)

12 (11–14)

13 (11–14)

15 (13–17)

0.092

Sentence count

78 (60–117)

86 (53–130)

76 (58–116)

62 (48–90)

0.842

  1. *IQR – interquartile range.
  2. Kruskal-Wallis test with a P-value set at 0.05.
  3. Simple measure of gobbledygook (SMOG) index.