Sher T, Diab AR, Mhaskar R, Docimo S, Sujka J, DuCoin C. Evaluating the Spanish readability of
American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) Centers of Excellence (COE) websites.
Surg Endosc 2023:10.1007/s00464-023-09978-9. [PMID:
36914781 PMCID:
PMC10010650 DOI:
10.1007/s00464-023-09978-9]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Healthcare disparities continue to be an ongoing struggle in Bariatrics. Limited availability of Spanish online material may be a correctible barrier for accessibility to Hispanic patients. We sought to evaluate accredited Bariatric Centers of Excellence (COE) for Spanish readability via their websites to determine accessibility for Spanish speakers.
METHODS
This was an internet research study. 103 COE accredited by American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) were evaluated and assigned one of five Spanish Visibility Categories. The United States was divided into 4 regions. Regional Spanish visibility was calculated by dividing each category count by the number of institutions in each region. County Spanish-speaking populations were obtained from the US Census Bureau's 2009-2013 American Community Survey. Differences in their distributions across the Spanish Visibility Categories were investigated using the Mann-Whitney U test.
RESULTS
25% of websites were translatable to Spanish, and a regional discrepancy was found with 61% translatable in the West, 19% in Northeast, 19% in Midwest, and 15% in South. Median Spanish-speaking population was higher in counties where websites were translatable to Spanish than where websites were not translatable.
CONCLUSION
Healthcare disparities in Bariatrics continue to be an ongoing struggle. We suggest that Spanish readability for ASMBS ACS COE websites should be improved regardless of geographic differences in Spanish-speaking populations. We believe it would be valuable for these websites to have standards for readability of Spanish and other languages.
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