Readability assessment of Internet-based patient education materials related to acoustic neuromas.
OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this study were to assess the readability of Internet-based patient education materials related to acoustic neuromas (AN-IPEMs) by 4 widely validated readability indices, to evaluate scores against the existing sixth grade recommended reading level, and to compare the readability scores of patient education materials (PEMs) produced by professional organizations, clinical practices, hospitals, and miscellaneous sources.


METHODS
AN-IPEMs from 67 web sites (6 professional societies, 33 clinical practices, 19 hospitals, and 9 miscellaneous) were assessed using Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), and Gunning Frequency of Gobbledygook (Gunning FOG). Scores were then evaluated against national recommendations by 1-tailed t tests and against each other using 1-way ANOVAs.


RESULTS
The average FKGL, SMOG, and Gunning FOG scores were all significantly higher than the recommended sixth grade reading level suggested by the USDHHS (p < 0.0001, single sample 1-tailed t test). Zero articles, by all indices, had a reading level equal to or below the sixth grade reading level. The FKGLs also varied between the various sources at a significant level (p = 0.01 one-way ANOVA independent samples). The average FKGLs of clinical practice and professional society AN-IPEMs were significantly higher than the average FKGLs of hospital AN-IPEMs (both p ≤ 0.05 one-tailed t-tests assuming unequal variances).


CONCLUSIONS
AN-IPEMs are written at a level significantly higher than that suggested by national recommendations. Current AN-IPEMs may need to be revised in order to enhance patient comprehension.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Rutgers University-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, USA.
Deepa V
DV
Cherla
Saurin
S
Sanghvi
Osamah J
OJ
Choudhry
Robert W
RW
Jyung
Jean Anderson
JA
Eloy
James K
JK
Liu
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003142:Communication; D032882:Comprehension; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D009464:Neuroma, Acoustic; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011932:Reading; D014481:United States