title: Readability of online patient education materials on adult reconstruction Web sites.
abstract: Recommended readability of patient education materials is sixth-grade level or lower. Readability of 212 patient education materials pertaining to adult reconstruction topics available from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, and 3 other specialty and private practitioner Web sites was assessed using the Flesch-Kincaid grade formula. The mean Flesch-Kincaid score was 11.1 (range, 3-26.5). Only 5 (2%) articles had a readability level of sixth grade or lower. Readability of most of the articles for patient education on adult reconstruction Web sites evaluated may be too advanced for a substantial portion of patients. Further studies are needed to assess the optimal readability level of health information on the Internet.
authors: Department of Orthopaedics, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, USA.
authors: Daniil L
authors: DL
authors: Polishchuk
authors: Jenifer
authors: J
authors: Hashem
authors: Sanjeev
authors: S
authors: Sabharwal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003626:Data Display; D004522:Educational Status; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D015588:Observer Variation; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000193:education*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D011932:Reading; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014956:Writing