Readability of online patient educational materials for transgender dermatologic care

Yousif, Rame; Zheng, David X.; Chang, Irene; Wong, Christina; Trinidad, John; Carr, David

doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2021.12.041

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Numeracy and electronic health literacy both impact comprehension, as well [7,17]. Dermatology patient education materials commonly have reading levels significantly above the nationally recommended guidelines, particularly due to complex medical terminology [11 ▪▪ ,16,18–21]. A study looking at eczema action plans found that the mean reading level was three grades above the recommended reading level of 6th grade for materials geared toward the general population [18].…”

Section: Communicating Diagnosis and Treatment Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health literacy in pediatric dermatology: challenges and opportunities

Williams

Housten

Coughlin

2023

Current Opinion in Pediatrics

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Purpose of review Health literacy influences how children and families participate in their medical care, use health services, and overall health outcomes. Health literacy is underexplored in pediatric dermatology. In this scoping review, we provide examples of how limited health literacy can be a barrier to patient care in pediatric dermatology and how to mitigate its effects. Recent findings Limited health literacy is associated with worse health outcomes, decreased medication adherence, and decreased use of the healthcare system versus those with adequate health literacy. Materials created to help patients understand their medical conditions and treatment options often are written at a reading level far above that of the average patient and caregiver. Given the reading level of patient-facing materials, those with limited health literacy are more susceptible to medication administration errors, with omissions or incorrect dosing being most frequent to occur. There is limited research about how skills related to health literacy, including numeracy and electronic health literacy, can be addressed in pediatric dermatology. Summary Health literacy impacts patient care, treatment, and adherence in pediatric dermatology. This article gives examples of how to address common challenges in the pediatric dermatology clinic and presents areas for further research and improvement.

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Section: Communicating Diagnosis and Treatment Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health literacy in pediatric dermatology: challenges and opportunities

Williams

Housten

Coughlin

2023

Current Opinion in Pediatrics

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“…19,20 There are a limited number of readability studies examining online educational material geared toward the TGD patients. There have been readability studies published concerning gender-affirming surgery 21 as well as transgender dermatologic care 22 ; however, despite frequent use of the Internet by patients to obtain information about genderaffirming voice care, there have been no studies to date that have characterized the readability of these online materials. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the readability of patient education materials related to transgender voice care.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Readability Analysis and Accessibility of Online Materials About Transgender Voice Care

Magrath¹,

Shneyderman²,

Bauer

et al. 2022

Otolaryngol.--head neck surg.

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Objective To determine readability, understandability, and actionability of online health information related to transgender voice care. Study Design Review of online materials. Setting Academic medical center. Methods A Google search of “transgender voice care” was performed with the first 50 websites meeting inclusion criteria included. Readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG). Understandability and actionability were measured by 2 independent reviewers using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Printable Materials (PEMAT-P). Unpaired t tests were used to compare clinician- and patient-oriented sites, surgical and nonsurgical sites, and sites that discuss nonbinary indications for voice care. Analysis of variance was used to compare sites that discuss voice feminization, masculinization, both, or neither. Results Average scores across the cohort for FRES, FKGL, and SMOG were 43.77 ± 13.52, 12.14 ± 2.66, and 11.30 ± 1.93, respectively, indicating materials were above a 12th-grade reading level. PEMAT-P scores for understandability and actionability were 64.95% ± 15.78% and 40.55% ± 23.86%, respectively. Patient-oriented sites were significantly more understandable and actionable than clinician-oriented sites ( P < .02). Websites that discussed only voice feminization were significantly more readable according to objective metrics (FKGL, SMOG) than websites that discussed both feminization and masculinization or those that did not differentiate care types ( P < .05). Conclusion Online information written about transgender voice care is written at a level above what is recommended for patient education materials. Providers may improve accessibility of transgender voice care by enhancing readability of online materials.

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“…The National Institutes of Health recommends that PEMs should not surpass a sixth-grade level in readability, 3 and dermatologic PEMs often fail to meet this recommendation. 4 Because the progression to end-stage renal disease is associated with low socioeconomic status, 5 it is of particular importance that PEMs pertaining to dialysis skin care are presented at an adequate reading level. Our aim was to describe the readability of online PEMs related to dermatologic issues for patients undergoing dialysis.…”

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confidence: 99%