title: Readability of menopause web sites: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: More women are frequently referring to the Internet for health information, yet the readability of information about menopause on the Internet has not been widely studied. To address this gap, this study examined the readability of information about menopause on 25 Internet Web sites. Findings included that information on the Web sites had a reading level higher than the recommended sixth-grade level, and culturally appropriate health information was lacking. Health educators and practitioners are in a pivotal role to help women understand information useful for healthcare decisions. Several criteria are discussed to help practitioners evaluate Web sites.
authors.affiliation: School of Library and Information Science, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. dcharbon@wayne.edu
authors.forename: Deborah H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Charbonneau
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D003197:Computer Literacy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D040441:Health Educators / Q000458:organization & administration; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods; D058980:Information Literacy; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D007255:Information Services / Q000592:standards / Q000600:supply & distribution; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards*; D008593:Menopause; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*