title: Patient literacy and the readability of smoking education literature.
abstract: This study was designed to determine if primary care clinic patients read at a level congruent to the reading grade level of available smoking literature. Reading estimates of smoking education literature (N = 49) ranged from grade 3 to college level (median = 9.5). Reading skills of 258 smoking patients were estimated by reported years of schooling (median = 10), and by scores on the Wide-Range Achievement Test (median = 6). A serious disparity existed between the reading estimates of smoking education literature and the literacy skills of patients in our sample.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Meade
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Byrd
mesh_terms: D004522:Educational Status; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D010174:Pamphlets; D011932:Reading; D000074606:Smoking Prevention