Comprehensive evaluation of Medtronic’s Butterfly platform, a new audiovisual information material for patient education and shared decision-making in surgical thyroid disease

Background To facilitate shared decision-making, patients increasingly rely on online platforms for health-related information. While thyroid diseases are common, the quality of available thyroid-related information varies. This study comprehensively evaluated a new audiovisual information material developed by Medtronic for patients with surgical thyroid disease in English and French. Methods Data were collected from patients at baseline (t1), after accessing the French version of Medtronic’s Butterfly platform but before surgery (t2), and three weeks post-surgery (t3). Patients assessed the material’s usefulness (USE), impact (eHIQ) and quality (Brief DISCERN), provided feedback on its content using a custom debriefing questionnaire, and self-reported on their anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9) and stress (PSS-14). We assessed both versions for readability (FRES, FKGL, SMOG, GFI, and Scolarius); understandability and actionability (PEMAT-A/V); linguistic aspects (LIWC-22) and tone style (YesChat Tone Analyzer). In addition to conducting quantitative and qualitative analyses of the respective datasets, triangulation was used to integrate both approaches. Results Of 26 patients enrolled, 24 (t2), and 22 (t3) completed the study; both benign and malignant/potentially malignant surgical indications were represented. The material’s scores regarding usefulness and impact at t2 were both significantly above the respective predefined thresholds. Consistently, qualitative analysis showed that most participants found the material useful or very useful. Whereas anxiety and depression scores were low across t1-t3, levels of stress were consistently high, and a negative correlation between USE and GAD-7 scores suggested that greater perceived usefulness is associated with lower anxiety levels. Even though readability scores for both languages indicated higher complexity than the generally recommended 6th -8th grade level, neither the quantitative nor the qualitative feedback of patients indicated challenges with the material’s language. Assessment of the material by five investigators showed very good understandability and excellent actionability. Linguistic analysis showed a somewhat higher complexity of the French version; for both versions, tone analysis reported a clear, approachable, and professional style, with direct and informative content, using generally simple language. Finally, participants suggested slight improvements, especially regarding online navigation. Conclusions Medtronic’s Butterfly platform is a high-quality information source to aid shared decision-making in patients with surgical thyroid diseases.