Readability and DISCERN analysis of online resources on cochlear implants

Objectives: This study aims to comparatively evaluate the readability and content quality of patient information texts related to cochlear implants on Turkish-language web pages according to website type and authorship qualifications. Materials and Methods: Between September and October 2025, the first 100 Turkish-language websites retrieved using the keyword “cochlear implant” on the Google search engine were analyzed. Readability was assessed using the Ateşman and Çetinkaya-Uzun readability indices, and content quality was evaluated using the DISCERN instrument. Websites were classified as company, hospital, personal, or newspaper sites. Ear, nose, and throat (ENT)-based authorship, presence of references, and academic affiliation were recorded. All evaluations were conducted independently by two researchers. Results: Ateşman scores did not differ across the groups (p=0.557). The Çetinkaya-Uzun index showed significant differences; company, hospital, and personal sites scored higher (i.e., more difficult) than newspapers (p=0.001, p=0.005, p=0.001, respectively). Texts with references and ENT-based authorship had lower Çetinkaya-Uzun readability scores (p=0.016 and p=0.005, respectively). Academic affiliation did not affect readability (p=0.375). Among the groups, the DISCERN reliability scores were similar (p=0.211). Considering information quality, newspaper, hospital, and personal groups had higher scores than companies (p=0.022, p=0.027, p=0.008, respectively). Overall quality scores were higher for hospital and personal sources than for company and newspaper sites (p=0.015, p=0.017; p=0.007, p=0.004, respectively). Total DISCERN scores were higher for newspaper, hospital, and personal groups than for companies (p=0.028, p=0.034, p=0.011, respectively). Ear, nose, and throat-based authorship increased information quality and total scores (p=0.009 and p=0.012, respectively). Academic affiliation improved all DISCERN domains (p=0.001). Conclusion: Newspaper websites demonstrated the poorest readability, while company websites constituted the lowest-scoring group in terms of content quality. Overall quality scores were higher for hospital-based and personal sources. Based on these findings, we believe that the use of plain language, a two-tiered presentation approach, and the standardization of transparency are necessary.