Readability of Colorectal Cancer Online Information: A Brief Report

Purpose: colorectal cancer (crc) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the united states. a decline in deaths caused by crc has been largely attributable to screening and prompt treatment. motivation, shown to infl uence cancer-related screening and treatment decisions, can be shaped by information from the internet. the extent to which this information is easily readable on cancer-related websites is not known. the purpose of this study was to assess the readability levels of crc information on 100 websites. methods: using methods from a prior study, the keyword, “colorectal cancer,” was searched on a cleared internet browser. scores for each website (n = 100) were generated using fi ve commonly recommended readability tests. results: all fi ve tests demonstrated diffi cult readability for the majority of the websites. conclusions: online information related to crc is diffi cult to read and highlights the need for developing cancer-related online material that is understandable to a wider audience.