JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The coronavirus pandemic has increased reliance on the Internet as a tool for disseminating information. However, information is useful only when the reader can comprehend the content. Prior research has shown that online health information is not always easy to read. It is not yet known whether the Korean-language online COVID-19 information is easy for the general public to read.

Objective:

This study evaluated the readability of online Korean-language COVID-19 education materials for the general public provided by the national COVID-19 portal of South Korea.

Methods:

A total of 122 publicly available COVID-19 education materials in Korean were obtained from the national COVID-19 portal of South Korea. Readability levels of the material were determined using Natmal, a readability tool for Korean text. Three documents, written at a professional level were rephrased until its readability level was changed to easy-to-read.

Results:

A total of 90.2% (110/122) of the material was difficult to read. The median readability grade level was at a professional level. In each of the four topics, there were few easy-to-read materials, with 41.7% (5/12) for “overview,” 6.2 % (6/97) for “prevention,” 0% (0/5) for “test,” and 12.5% (1/8) for “treatment” (in all cases, P = .006). The median readability grade levels exceeded the recommended 9th-grade level in all four topics, with an 11th-grade level for “overview,” a professional level for “prevention,” and a college level for “test” and “treatment.”

Conclusions:

Most of the Korean-language COVID-19 online educational materials for the general public provided by the national COVID-19 portal of South Korea were difficult to read. Readability should be a key consideration in developing public health education material that plays an important role in disease prevention and health promotion.