title: Pregnancy, alcohol use and the effectiveness of written health education materials.
abstract: This study was conducted to determine whether health education materials were more effective when written at a lower rather than a higher reading level. Women (n = 252) who visited public health maternity clinics selected either English- or Spanish-language health designed to discourage alcohol use, depending on whether the women preferred to read English or Spanish. The materials were written on the third and the 10th-grade reading levels. The women were randomly assigned to receive materials written on one of the two levels. Then participants completed the pre-test, read the health education material and were post-tested immediately. Among English-speaking participants, the material written at the lower reading level was shown to be more effective. Whereas among Spanish-speaking participants, test scores were unchanged after reading either health education material. Overall, we recommend that health care providers design or purchase materials that are easy-to-read and provide face-to-face counseling about abstaining from alcohol. Providers should not rely on written materials to communicate important messages when working with pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center 77030, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Calabro
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kapadia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011932:Reading; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013664:Teaching Materials / Q000592:standards*