title: Evaluating the complexity of online patient education materials about brain aneurysms published by major academic institutions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE Health care education resources are increasingly available on the Internet. A majority of people reference these resources at one point or another. A threshold literacy level is needed to comprehend the information presented within these materials. A key component of health literacy is the readability of educational resources. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American Medical Association have recommended that patient education materials be written between a 4th- and a 6th-grade education level. The authors assessed the readability of online patient education materials about brain aneurysms that have been published by several academic institutions across the US. METHODS Online patient education materials about brain aneurysms were downloaded from the websites of 20 academic institutions. The materials were assessed via 8 readability scales using Readability Studio software (Oleander Software Solutions), and then were statistically analyzed. RESULTS None of the patient education materials were written at or below the NIH's recommended 6th-grade reading level. The average educational level required to comprehend the texts across all institutions, as assessed by 7 of the readability scales, was 12.4 ± 2.5 (mean ± SD). The Flesch Reading Ease Scale classified the materials as "difficult" to understand, correlating with a college-level education or higher. An ANOVA test found that there were no significant differences in readability among the materials from the institutions (p = 0.215). CONCLUSIONS Brain aneurysms affect 3.2% of adults 50 years or older across the world and can cause significant patient anxiety and uncertainty. Current patient education materials are not written at or below the NIH's recommended 4th- to 6th-grade education level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and.
authors.forename: Raghav
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and.
authors.forename: Nimer
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Adeeb
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and.
authors.forename: Christoph J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Griessenauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and.
authors.forename: Justin M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and.
authors.forename: Apar S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and.
authors.forename: Ajith J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and.
authors.forename: Christopher S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Ogilvy
mesh_terms: D000047:Academies and Institutes; D032882:Comprehension; D020375:Education, Distance; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D011643:Publishing; D013597:Systems Analysis
keywords: AMA = American Medical Association; NIH = National Institutes of Health; SMOG = Simple Measure of Gobbledygook; cerebral aneurysm; health literacy; patient education materials; readability; vascular disorders