Assessing the Quality and Readability of COVID-19 Health Information : A Cross-sectional Analysis

Main Article Content

MAJED Abdullah Ali Al Qashanin, Ibrahim Ahmad Ilnumays, Hamis Nasser Ghnamm Al sharif , ALYAMI, DHAFER SALEH Nasser, Hamad hussain mohammed al salaiman, ALYAMI, SAIDAN MOHAMMED B

Keywords

COVID-19; COVID-19 pandemic; health literacy; readability; QUEST; online health information; cross-sectional; trend; internet; transmission; symptom; quality;

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented surge in online information concerning disease transmission and symptoms.
Objective: This study aims to systematically evaluate the quality and readability of articles resulting from commonly searched COVID-19 terms on Google .


Methods: Using Google Trends, we identified the 25 most frequently searched health-related phrases. The first 30 search results for each term were collected, and articles were assessed using the Quality Evaluation Scoring Tool (QUEST). Three raters evaluated each article on criteria including authorship, attribution, conflict of interest, currency, complementarity, and tone. Additionally, a readability analysis was conducted.

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