title: A critical evaluation of written discharge advice for people with mild traumatic brain injury: what should we be looking for?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To formally evaluate the written discharge advice for people with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven publications met the inclusion criteria: (1) intended for adults; (2) ≤two A4 pages; (3) published in English; (4) freely accessible; and (5) currently used (or suitable for use) in Australian hospital emergency departments or similar settings. Two independent raters evaluated the content and style of each publication against established standards. The readability of the publication, the diagnostic term(s) contained in it and a modified Patient Literature Usefulness Index (mPLUI) were also evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean content score was 19.18 ± 8.53 (maximum = 31) and the mean style score was 6.8 ± 1.34 (maximum = 8). The mean Flesch-Kincaid reading ease score was 66.42 ± 4.3. The mean mPLUI score was 65.86 ± 14.97 (maximum = 100). Higher scores on these metrics indicate more desirable properties. Over 80% of the publications used mixed diagnostic terminology. One publication scored optimally on two of the four metrics and highly on the others.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The content, style, readability and usefulness of written mTBI discharge advice was highly variable. The provision of written information to patients with mTBI is advised, but this variability in materials highlights the need for evaluation before distribution. Areas are identified to guide the improvement of written mTBI discharge advice.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuropsychology Research Group, School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology , Brisbane , Australia and.
authors.forename: Chloe B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Kempe
authors.forename: Karen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Shannon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Edmed
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D032882:Comprehension; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Acquired brain injury; head injury; mild traumatic brain injury; neurocognitive disorder; neuropsychology; patient information; post-concussion syndrome; post-traumatic stress disorder