Exploring the relationship between website quality and equity in living donor kidney transplant

BackgroundHealth system websites are important resources to guide health care decisions and may be useful tools to improve racial equity in access to living donor kidney transplant (LDKT).MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study of adult LDKT programs in the United States. We created an assessmen...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lisa M. McElroy, Joy E. Obayemi, Brian I. Shaw, Christine Park, Keenan Caddell, LaShara A. Davis, Nicole DePasquale, Dinushika Mohottige, L. Ebony Boulware
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Transplantation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frtra.2024.1490876/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850129379959504896
author Lisa M. McElroy
Joy E. Obayemi
Joy E. Obayemi
Brian I. Shaw
Christine Park
Keenan Caddell
LaShara A. Davis
Nicole DePasquale
Dinushika Mohottige
L. Ebony Boulware
author_facet Lisa M. McElroy
Joy E. Obayemi
Joy E. Obayemi
Brian I. Shaw
Christine Park
Keenan Caddell
LaShara A. Davis
Nicole DePasquale
Dinushika Mohottige
L. Ebony Boulware
author_sort Lisa M. McElroy
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundHealth system websites are important resources to guide health care decisions and may be useful tools to improve racial equity in access to living donor kidney transplant (LDKT).MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study of adult LDKT programs in the United States. We created an assessment tool for website quality across three domains: accessibility (access to LDKT specific information from the transplant center website), readability (ease of reading and clarity), and educational content (appropriateness and presentation of information, LDKT-specific content, program-specific characteristics, and adherence to equity-centered principles of web design).ResultsAmong the 185 transplant center websites reviewed, only 14.6% of LDKT sites could be accessed directly from the transplant center webpage. The median suitability assessment of materials (SAM)—a validated measure of website content for chronic kidney disease (CKD)—was 45 out of 86 (IQR 4) and the median Flesch-Kincaid grade level and ease score were 9.1 (IQR 0.8) on a scale of 0–18 and 51.2 (IQR 5) on a scale of 0–100, respectively.ConclusionThese results indicate that LDKT websites are currently not available, accessible, and understandable for many potential transplant candidates and donors. Optimizing the content and design of transplant center websites may be a promising and effective strategy for improving equity in access to LDKT.
format Article
id doaj-art-4a47e4f8e3654b59b5f684888b7585fe
institution OA Journals
issn 2813-2440
language English
publishDate 2024-11-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Transplantation
spelling doaj-art-4a47e4f8e3654b59b5f684888b7585fe2025-08-20T02:33:01ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Transplantation2813-24402024-11-01310.3389/frtra.2024.14908761490876Exploring the relationship between website quality and equity in living donor kidney transplantLisa M. McElroy0Joy E. Obayemi1Joy E. Obayemi2Brian I. Shaw3Christine Park4Keenan Caddell5LaShara A. Davis6Nicole DePasquale7Dinushika Mohottige8L. Ebony Boulware9Division of Abdominal Transplant, Department of Surgery, Duke University, Durham, NC, United StatesNorthwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC), Comprehensive Transplant Center (CTC), Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United StatesDepartment of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesDivision of Abdominal Transplant, Department of Surgery, Duke University, Durham, NC, United StatesDivision of Abdominal Transplant, Department of Surgery, Duke University, Durham, NC, United StatesEdward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Virginia Campus, Blacksburg, VA, United StatesJC Walter Jr Transplant Center, Houston Methodist Medical Center, Houston, TX, United StatesDivision of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, United StatesDivision of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, United StatesDepartment of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, United StatesBackgroundHealth system websites are important resources to guide health care decisions and may be useful tools to improve racial equity in access to living donor kidney transplant (LDKT).MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study of adult LDKT programs in the United States. We created an assessment tool for website quality across three domains: accessibility (access to LDKT specific information from the transplant center website), readability (ease of reading and clarity), and educational content (appropriateness and presentation of information, LDKT-specific content, program-specific characteristics, and adherence to equity-centered principles of web design).ResultsAmong the 185 transplant center websites reviewed, only 14.6% of LDKT sites could be accessed directly from the transplant center webpage. The median suitability assessment of materials (SAM)—a validated measure of website content for chronic kidney disease (CKD)—was 45 out of 86 (IQR 4) and the median Flesch-Kincaid grade level and ease score were 9.1 (IQR 0.8) on a scale of 0–18 and 51.2 (IQR 5) on a scale of 0–100, respectively.ConclusionThese results indicate that LDKT websites are currently not available, accessible, and understandable for many potential transplant candidates and donors. Optimizing the content and design of transplant center websites may be a promising and effective strategy for improving equity in access to LDKT.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frtra.2024.1490876/fullliving donor kidney transplanthealth equitywebsiteaccessreadability
spellingShingle Lisa M. McElroy
Joy E. Obayemi
Joy E. Obayemi
Brian I. Shaw
Christine Park
Keenan Caddell
LaShara A. Davis
Nicole DePasquale
Dinushika Mohottige
L. Ebony Boulware
Exploring the relationship between website quality and equity in living donor kidney transplant
Frontiers in Transplantation
living donor kidney transplant
health equity
website
access
readability
title Exploring the relationship between website quality and equity in living donor kidney transplant
title_full Exploring the relationship between website quality and equity in living donor kidney transplant
title_fullStr Exploring the relationship between website quality and equity in living donor kidney transplant
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the relationship between website quality and equity in living donor kidney transplant
title_short Exploring the relationship between website quality and equity in living donor kidney transplant
title_sort exploring the relationship between website quality and equity in living donor kidney transplant
topic living donor kidney transplant
health equity
website
access
readability
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frtra.2024.1490876/full
work_keys_str_mv AT lisammcelroy exploringtherelationshipbetweenwebsitequalityandequityinlivingdonorkidneytransplant
AT joyeobayemi exploringtherelationshipbetweenwebsitequalityandequityinlivingdonorkidneytransplant
AT joyeobayemi exploringtherelationshipbetweenwebsitequalityandequityinlivingdonorkidneytransplant
AT brianishaw exploringtherelationshipbetweenwebsitequalityandequityinlivingdonorkidneytransplant
AT christinepark exploringtherelationshipbetweenwebsitequalityandequityinlivingdonorkidneytransplant
AT keenancaddell exploringtherelationshipbetweenwebsitequalityandequityinlivingdonorkidneytransplant
AT lasharaadavis exploringtherelationshipbetweenwebsitequalityandequityinlivingdonorkidneytransplant
AT nicoledepasquale exploringtherelationshipbetweenwebsitequalityandequityinlivingdonorkidneytransplant
AT dinushikamohottige exploringtherelationshipbetweenwebsitequalityandequityinlivingdonorkidneytransplant
AT lebonyboulware exploringtherelationshipbetweenwebsitequalityandequityinlivingdonorkidneytransplant