| Sumario: | Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality and readability of web-based health information on COVID-19. Material and Methods: An internet search through Google search engine was done with eight search terms related to COVID-19. The first 100 websites were included in the final analysis. The quality of websites was assessed using the DISCERN Instrument, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks, the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) Scale and the Information Quality Tool (IQT). The readability of websites was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease (FRES) Formula, the Flesch-Kinkaid Reading Grade Level (FKRGL), the Gunning Frequency of Gobbledygook (FOG), the SMOG Index (SMOG), the Coleman-Liau Index (CLI) and the Automated Readability Index (ARI). Results: The mean DISCERN, JAMA benchmarks, EQIP, and IQT scores were 31.71, 0.59, 42.71 and 5.52, respectively and these findings showed that the websites screened were low quality. The mean scores for FRES, FKRGL, FOG, SMOG, CLI and ARI scores were 52.26, 10.49, 12.78, 9.45, 13.40 and 11.93, respectively. These readability tools showed that the websites screened were difficult or very difficult to read. Conclusions: As a result, in this study, the quality and readability of websites concerning COVID-19 were evaluated by various validation tools, and it was determined that online health information on COVID-19 were of suboptimal.
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