title: Readability analysis of healthcare-oriented education resources from the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Deficient health literacy remains a widespread public issue. As such, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends that all patient resources should be written around a sixth-grade level. The authors evaluate healthcare-oriented resources specified for patient use on the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) Web site in order to identify potential areas of improvement and highlight those sections that may serve as paradigms for future revisions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive and correlational design.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen healthcare-oriented resources specifically for patients were downloaded in February 2012 from the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Web site. Readability assessments of each article were performed using Readability Studio Professional Edition Version 2012.1. These tests included the Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, SMOG Grading, Coleman-Liau Index, Gunning-Fog Index, the New Fog Count, the New Dale-Chall Readability Formula, FORCAST formula, Raygor Readability Estimate, and the Fry Graph.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patient health education material found on the AAFPRS Web site has been found to be written at an average grade level of 12th grade using 10 different readability scales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Modifications of the patient education section of the AAFPRS Web site can increase the readability of the literature, and allow greater comprehension among a wider audience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Poonam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Misra
authors.forename: Nitin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Khushabu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kasabwala
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hansberry
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Setzen
authors.forename: Jean Anderson
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Eloy
mesh_terms: D000047:Academies and Institutes; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D057220:Health Literacy / Q000379:methods*; D006295:Health Resources; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D014481:United States