Abstract
Purpose
Educational resources for families play a critical role in parental health literacy, and higher parental education is directly correlated with better infant outcomes. This study aims to identify gaps in online information on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) by assessing the distribution and quality of hospital-provided, self-directed online educational material.
Methods
A total of 998 Level III and IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) websites were searched for the term “ROP.” Websites were categorized based on academic center affiliation and location. Links were chosen for further analysis of content and readability if they included at least a short paragraph on ROP. Chi-square testing was used to perform statistical analysis.
Results
16.3% (n = 161/985) of NICU websites contained the term “ROP.” Significant differences in “ROP” prevalence were seen among Level III NICUs based on region (p < .001) and academic affiliation (p < .001), with academic websites in the Northeast having the greatest percentage of positive search results. The average score ± standard deviation calculated using the DISCERN scoring system for assessing content quality was 37.2 ± 11.4 out of 75.
Conclusions
Mention of “ROP” was greatest on websites associated with academic institutions located in the Northeast. Notably, the amount and quality of information provided by NICU websites on ROP are low and efforts are needed to improve the content that is available to families of infants with ROP.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.