Readability of online patient information on oral and maxillofacial surgery

Websites are gaining importance as a source of health-related information. Since patients search the internet for information on clinical pictures and treatment options, and also regard this information as part of their clarification for informed consent, it seems essential to provide a sufficient quantity as well as quality of information. However, many adults have difficulties in correctly understanding written information. We thus considered it important to analyze an example of the available information in terms of readability. We subjected the websites on "oral squamous cell carcinoma" of 32 oral and maxillofacial surgery departments of German university hospitals to systematic investigation. The analysis revealed that the majority of investigated patient information has the level of a scientific publication and is thus difficult for the layman to read.