Analysis of Comprehensibility of Patient Information Regarding Complex Craniofacial Conditions

Patel, Pratik; Hoppe, Ian C.; Ahuja, Naveen K.; Ciminello, Frank S.

doi:10.1097/scs.0b013e31821c00e4

Cited by 30 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…The United States Department of Health and Human Services has deemed any text written above a ninth-grade level difficult to read [8]. In this setting, it has become clear that patient education materials (even after removal of medical terminology) exceed the recommended reading levels of the average adult American [11,31,32]. This notion is echoed by Kim and Kwon [30], who found little evidence that cancer patients using the internet to obtain health information were savvier than their 'offline' counterparts in making an informed decision about their own health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Readability of online patient resources for melanoma

Ibrahim

Vargas²,

Koolen³

et al. 2016

Melanoma Research

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Medical information is often difficult for patients to understand. With specialized vocabulary and complex pathophysiology, even well-educated adults have trouble interpreting information about their healthcare. The average American adult reads at a seventh-grade level. In light of the inherent complexity of health information, the American Medical Association and National Institutes of Health have recommended that information for patients should be written at a sixth-grade level. The goal of this study was to evaluate the most commonly used online patient resources about melanoma in the context of these recommendations. A web search for 'melanoma' identified the 10 most-accessed websites. Location filters were disabled and sponsored results were excluded to avoid inadvertent search bias. All relevant, patient-directed articles were downloaded and formatted into plain text. Pictures, videos, links, advertisements, and references were removed. Readability analysis was carried out using 10 established tests, both overall and arranged by parent website for comparison. A total of 130 articles for melanoma information were identified. The overall mean reading grade level was 12.6. All sites exceeded the recommended sixth-grade level. Secondary analysis of articles grouped by website indicated a range of readability across sites from 9.9 (high school freshman) to 14.9 (university sophomore). Online patient resources for melanoma uniformly exceed the recommended reading level and may be too difficult for many Americans to understand. The range of readability among websites may indicate an opportunity for physicians to direct patients to more appropriate resources for their level of health literacy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Readability of online patient resources for melanoma

Ibrahim

Vargas²,

Koolen³

et al. 2016

Melanoma Research

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“…6 Furthermore, clinicians are more often referring their patients to online sources of PEMs. 19 Patient education and understanding of their medical conditions are critical to optimizing the patient-physician relationship and the patient's overall health. Readability above the average American literacy level is a widespread issue that has been identified broadly throughout PEMs in other specialties and is not just limited to ophthalmology.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Online Patient Education Materials From Major Ophthalmologic Associations

et al. 2015

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IMPORTANCE Patients are increasingly using the Internet to supplement finding medical information, which can be complex and requires a high level of reading comprehension. Online ophthalmologic materials from major ophthalmologic associations should be written at an appropriate reading level.OBJECTIVES To assess ophthalmologic online patient education materials (PEMs) on ophthalmologic association websites and to determine whether they are above the reading level recommended by the American Medical Association and National Institutes of Health.

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“…It is estimated that 34% of adults in the United States have only basic or below basic reading literacy (10) with an inverse relationship between age and reading skill level, even when adjusted for cognitive impairment or years of schooling (11). Furthermore, it has been determined that the average reading age in the United States is between a seventh-and eighth-grade level (12,13).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Information is categorized as being of ''easy'' readability if written at this level, ''average'' if assessed between seventhand ninth-grade readability, and ''difficult'' if above this (Table 1) (2). Previous studies have evaluated the readability of online patient information for a variety of medical conditions, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, thyroid surgery, craniofacial conditions, age-related macular degeneration, orthopedic conditions, dermatological problems, abdominal aortic aneurysm, epilepsy, and Parkinson's disease (Table 2) (2,4,8,9,(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). Each of these studies determined that the readability of most online patient education materials, using a variety of readability scores, is less than that recommended by USDHHS.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%