Abstract
Purpose :
Google serves as a primary health information online source. Vision-related issues affect over 250 million globally and 7 million in the US, posing a substantial economic burden. Studies show heightened vulnerability among Latinos, especially limited English proficient (LEP) individuals, facing barriers in accessing visual health information and care, a challenge also observed among Brazilians. This study aims to evaluate the reliability and accessibility of online information about eye diseases for LEP Portuguese-speaking Americans.
Methods :
The study investigated ten common eye conditions by analyzing the first page of Google search results in both English and Portuguese-adjusted Google settings. Two tools, JAMA Benchmark and Discern Criteria, evaluated website content. A bilingual evaluator assessed all websites, and a t-test compared mean scores between English and Portuguese disease-related websites.
Results :
The English websites scored a significantly higher overall grade for both assessment tools JAMA = 0.75 [0.4296, 1.0704] and Discern = 6.47 [3.688,9.25] (p=0.0005 both). There were notable differences within the JAMA assessment for macular degeneration and uveitis, and the Discern assessment for macular degeneration, cataracts, conjunctivitis, and strabismus. The only English-based website which offered Portuguese translations was from John’s Hopkins.
Conclusions :
Information on eye diseases in the US is of average quality, with significant disparities between English and Portuguese. This aligns with existing disparities in visual healthcare access for Limited English Proficient (LEP) Latinos, suggesting similar challenges for LEP Portuguese-speaking Americans. The availability of Portuguese-translated information among English websites was extremely limited, hindering accessibility for LEP Portuguese speakers.
Differences in information reliability were magnified for more prevalent eye diseases. This contrasts the expected trend where more common diseases would have more reliable information. Such observation emphasizes the need for educational institutions to provide improved online information. Notably, most English websites sourced from governmental agencies and educational institutions, while Portuguese websites were mainly from private clinics, prompting curiosity about the website selection criteria for Google's first page in different countries.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.