title: An exploratory study of older adults' comprehension of printed cancer information: is readability a key factor?
abstract: Printed cancer information often is written at or beyond high school reading levels, despite lower average literacy abilities of the public. The objectives of this exploratory study were twofold: (1) to evaluate older adults' comprehension of breast (BC), prostate (PC), and colorectal (CC) cancer information; and (2) to determine if comprehension of BC, PC, and CC information varies according to text readability. Comprehension of printed cancer resources was evaluated with 44 community-dwelling older adults using the Cloze procedure and recall questions. Participants' comprehension scores were compared with Simple Measure of Gobbledegook (SMOG) readability scores (<grade 13 vs. grade 13+). Overall, older adults had satisfactory comprehension of cancer information as measured by Cloze (.86 +/- .01) and recall (.71 +/- .02). For CC information written at grade 13, however, a significant negative correlation between readability and Cloze comprehension was found (r(s) = -.44, SE = .17, p = .019), indicating poorer participant comprehension at higher readability levels. Comprehension of BC or PC information did not vary by readability level. Though readability plays a role in older adults' understanding of cancer information, cancer type and content are also important factors that influence comprehension. Use of plain language is recommended for CC resources.
authors: Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina [corrected] USA.
authors: Daniela B
authors: DB
authors: Friedman
authors: Laurie
authors: L
authors: Hoffman-Goetz
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms; D011932:Reading