Readability assessment of internet-based patient education materials related to uterine artery embolization.

Purpose Patients frequently use the Internet as a source to gather information pertaining to their medical care. There is an abundance of healthcare related internet-based-patient-education-material (IPEM). Our study was designed to determine the readability of materials created by US hospitals and universities, clinical practices, as well as miscellaneous healthcare-associated websites pertaining to uterine artery embolization (UAE). Materials and Methods We conducted the study on March 27 - 29, 2012 using the search engine Google (online only, available at: www.google.com). A broad search was performed using key phrases such as “uterine artery embolization” and “fibroid embolization”. IPEMs provided by professional societies were excluded. Additionally, articles not written in English, containing fewer than 30 sentences and ones written in list format were excluded. Readability of 40 UAE-related IPEMs was assessed with 4 readability indices: Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), and Gunning Frequency of Gobbledygook (Gunning FOG). Scores were evaluated against national recommendations put forth by the United States Department of Health and Human Services and intergroup analysis was performed. Results None of the IPEMs were written at or below the sixth-grade reading level, based on FKGL. The mean readability scores were: FRES 43.98, FKGL 10.76, SMOG 13.63, and Gunning FOG 14.55. These scores indicate that the readability of UAE IPEMs is written at a “difficult” level and is significantly above the recommended 6th grade reading level (p Conclusion IPEMs related to UAE generated by hospitals, clinical practices and miscellaneous healthcare-associated websites are written well above the recommended sixth grade level. While physicians continue to be the primary source of information, patients often seek supplemental information regarding their medical care using the Internet. For a relatively new elective procedure such as UAE, patients may turn to Web-based IPEMs prior to pursuing this treatment modality. Thus, IPEMs should be modified to the readability level of the average american adult patient.