Readability of patient and family education materials on pediatric surgical association websites
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Read the article on link.springer.com ↗Article · Mar 2023 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
This study evaluated the readability of patient education materials on pediatric surgical association websites, finding that content from APSA and BAPS is written at high school reading levels—above what most families can easily comprehend. The authors recommend rewriting materials for better accessibility and offering multilingual versions to improve health literacy.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Abstract
Purpose
Globally, pediatric surgical association websites present patient/family education materials on an extensive list of conditions, including descriptions of the condition, signs and symptoms, diagnostic modalities, and treatment options. The purpose of this project was to assess the readability of pediatric surgical association websites’ patient/family education materials.
Methods
With IRB approval, we accessed all patient/family education materials on pediatric surgical association websites from around the globe and used multiple grade-level assessments and readability assessments to determine the reading level at which the information is presented.
Results
The American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) website and the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons (BAPS) present publicly accessible patient/family education materials. Seventy-four (74) conditions on APSA’s website were analyzed. Three grade-level assessments and the Flesch Reading Ease assessment indicated that the articles are written at high school reading levels. No articles were available in languages other than English. BAPS presented 6 conditions, most of which were more readable than their APSA counterparts.
Conclusions
Our analysis indicates that the patient/family education materials available on pediatric surgical association websites may not be written at a level that is comprehensible by the general population. Potential solutions include re-writing the materials with an emphasis on readability and presenting materials in languages other than English.
Level of evidence
V.