Readability of Online Patient Education Materials Related to IR.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the readability of online patient education materials (OPEM) related to common diseases treated by and procedures performed by interventional radiology (IR).


METHODS
The following websites were chosen based on their average Google search return for each IR OPEM content area examined in this study: Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE), National Library of Medicine, RadiologyInfo, Mayo Clinic, WebMD, and Wikipedia. IR OPEM content area was assessed for the following: peripheral arterial disease, central venous catheter, varicocele, uterine artery embolization, vertebroplasty, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, and deep vein thrombosis. The following algorithms were used to estimate and compare readability levels: Flesch-Kincaid Grade Formula, Flesch Reading Ease Score, Gunning Frequency of Gobbledygook, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, and Coleman-Liau Index. Data were analyzed using general mixed modeling.


RESULTS
On average, online sources that required beyond high school grade-level readability were Wikipedia (15.0), SIR (14.2), and RadiologyInfo (12.4); sources that required high school grade-level readability were CIRSE (11.3), Mayo Clinic (11.0), WebMD (10.6), and National Library of Medicine (9.0). On average, OPEM on uterine artery embolization, vertebroplasty, varicocele, and peripheral arterial disease required the highest level of readability (12.5, 12.3, 12.3, and 12.2, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The IR OPEM assessed in this study were written above the recommended sixth-grade reading level and the health literacy level of the average American adult. Many patients in the general public may not have the ability to read and understand health information in IR OPEM.
Vascular Disease Research Center, Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, 338 Gerry House, Providence, RI 02903.
Gregory E
GE
McEnteggart
Vascular Disease Research Center, Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, 338 Gerry House, Providence, RI 02903. Electronic address: mnaeem@lifespan.org.
Muhammad
M
Naeem
Biostatistics Core, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, 338 Gerry House, Providence, RI 02903.
Dorothy
D
Skierkowski
Biostatistics Core, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, 338 Gerry House, Providence, RI 02903.
Grayson L
GL
Baird
Vascular Disease Research Center, Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, 338 Gerry House, Providence, RI 02903.
Sun H
SH
Ahn
Vascular Disease Research Center, Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, 338 Gerry House, Providence, RI 02903.
Gregory
G
Soares
D032882:Comprehension; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D057220:Health Literacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D020407:Internet; D009862:Online Systems; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015641:Radiography, Interventional / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015642:Radiology, Interventional / Q000193:education*; D011932:Reading; D014481:United States