Evaluation of Online English Materials for Vaginoplasty

 

Background 

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Rise in demand for gender-affirming surgery, particularly vaginoplasties highlights the need to prioritize their well being and understanding to enable an informed decision
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Up to 85% of patients consult the internet as their main source of information prior to seeking their first professional opinion
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Health literacy has been associated to better patient-centered outcomes
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We aimed to enhanced transgender healthcare by assessing online resources’ readability, cultural sensitivity, and usefulness for this population and the broader medical community

Methods

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Google web search using terms “Vaginoplasty”, “Gender affirming surgery”, and “Male to female surgery”
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We utilized Google trends tool to select the most popular term used in the Google search engine in the past 5 years.
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Top 10 results from institutional/organizational websites were selected for review
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We used validated tools to assess for:
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Mean reading level (SMOG)
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Cultural sensitivity (CSAT)
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Understandability (PMAT)

 

Results

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Mean reading level was 36.23 (exceeding the recommended level of readability stablished by AMA and NIH.
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Mean cultural sensitivity score was 2,4 (below the minimum acceptable benchmark of 2.5)
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Only 2 out of 10 webpages had an acceptable score
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Mean understandability was moderate (59.3%)
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Acceptable threshold was 70%, only 1out of 10 webpages had a satisfactory score for understandability
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Mean actionability of 37% (Low)
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Only 1 out of 10 webpages was able to have >70% score on actionability
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None of the webpages evaluated had a satisfactory actionability AND

 

Conclusion 

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Existing online resources regarding vaginoplasty fail to adhere to established guidelines regarding reading level
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Organizations and institutions aiming to provide patients with useful information should tailor their materials more towards their target audience. In addition to decreasing medical jargon and providing information at an appropriate reading level, providers should incorporate cultural elements appropriately into their websites to increase patient acceptance
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Suitable readability, understandability, actionability, and cultural sensitivity in health materials contribute to patient awareness and empowerment