An Online Readability Analysis of Pathology-Related Patient Education Articles: An Opportunity for Pathologists to Educate Patients

Publication date: Available online 10 May 2017
Source:Human Pathology
Author(s): Arpan V. Prabhu, Christopher Kim, Tudor Crihalmeanu, David R. Hansberry, Nitin Agarwal, Marie C. DeFrances, Humberto E. Trejo Bittar
Information for patients regarding their clinical conditions and treatment options is widely available online. The American Medical Association and National Institutes of Health recommend that online patient-oriented materials be written at no higher than a 7th grade reading level to ensure full comprehension by the average American. This study sought to determine whether online patient-oriented materials explaining common pathology procedures are written at appropriate reading levels. Ten pathology procedures that patients would likely research were queried into Google search, and plain text from the first 10 websites containing patient education materials for each procedure were analyzed using 10 validated readability scales. We determined mean reading levels of materials grouped by readability scale, procedure, and website domain, the overall average reading level of all resources, and popular website domains. One hundred websites were accessed; one was omitted for short length (<100 words). The average reading grade level of the 99 materials, none of which met national health literacy guidelines (range 7.3–17.4), was 10.9. Twenty-nine articles (29%) required a high school education for full comprehension, and 4 (4%) required an undergraduate college education. Most frequently accessed website domains included medlineplus.gov, webmd.com (both accessed 7 times), and labtestsonline.org (accessed 6 times). Average reading levels of the 11 most commonly accessed websites ranged from 8.25 (patient.info) to 12.25 (mayoclinic.org). Readability levels of most online pathology-related patient education materials exceeded those recommended by national health literacy guidelines. These patient education materials should be revised to help patients fully understand them.



http://ift.tt/2qZjyX8