Authors: Sameer Badarudeen Sanjeev Sabharwal
Publish Date: 2010/05/22
Volume: 468, Issue: 10, Pages: 2572-2580
Abstract
Health literacy is the single best predictor of an individual’s health status It is important to customize healthrelated education material to the individual patient’s level of reading skills Readability of a given text is the objective measurement of the reading skills one should possess to understand the written materialWhere are we now Several healthcare organizations have recommended the readability of patient education materials be no higher than sixth to eighthgrade level However most of the patient education materials currently available on major orthopaedic Web sites are written at a reading level that may be too advanced for comprehension by a substantial proportion of the populationThere are several readily available and validated tools for assessing the readability of written materials While use of audiovisual aids such as video clips line drawings models and charts can enhance the comprehension of a healthrelated topic standard readability tools cannot construe such enhancementsGiven the variability in the capacity to comprehend healthrelated materials among individuals seeking orthopaedic care stratifying the contents of patient education materials at different levels of complexity will likely improve health literacy and enhance patientcentered communication
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