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Nutrition guidance for cancer patients and survivors—A review of the websites of Irish healthcare and charitable organisations and cancer centres
Author(s) -
Keaver Laura,
Callaghan Helen,
Walsh Leah,
Houlihan Christine
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
european journal of cancer care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1365-2354
pISSN - 0961-5423
DOI - 10.1111/ecc.13216
Subject(s) - readability , medicine , irish , checklist , interquartile range , cancer , family medicine , health care , surgery , linguistics , philosophy , economics , economic growth , psychology , cognitive psychology
Objective To determine availability of nutrition information for cancer patients and survivors from Irish healthcare organisations, cancer charity and support groups and assess its quality and readability. Design Cross‐sectional. Setting The National Health Service Executive websites were searched, as were the sites of the ten largest cancer charities/support groups identified through the Benefacts website. An additional internet search was conducted to ensure no large organisations/support groups were missed (February 2019). Quality of nutrition content was assessed using an evidence‐based checklist and readability assessed using two validated formulas. Results Thirty‐two websites were identified, five contained nutrition information for cancer patients (15.6%), and three for cancer survivors (9.3%). The quality of the nutrition content ranged from 19.5 to 29/40 (mean ± SD , 23.2 ± 3.2; median = 21, interquartile range (IQR) = 7). There was a lack of practical strategies for implementation. Only 40% of material had an acceptable readability level (sixth–seventh grade level). Readability scores (mean ± SD ) were 68.5 ± 6.0 for Flesch Reading Ease Score and 7.8 ± 1.1 for Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level Score. Conclusion There is limited nutrition information on Irish health and cancer websites and in particular very few tailored to cancer survivors. Irish health and cancer organisations should consider providing nutrition information that is easily accessible to all.