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. 2022 Jul 21;15(2):247-252.
doi: 10.17161/kjm.vol15.16529. eCollection 2022.

Comprehension Profile of Patient Education Materials in Endocrine Care

Som P Singh  1 , Fahad M Qureshi  1 , Kiera G Borthwick  2 , Sagar Singh  1 , Shreya Menon  1 , Brandon Barthel  1
Affiliations

Comprehension Profile of Patient Education Materials in Endocrine Care

Som P Singh et al. Kans J Med. .

Abstract

Introduction: The internet is an ever-evolving resource to improve healthcare literacy among patients. The nature of the internet can make it difficult to condense educational materials in a manner applicable to a worldwide patient audience. Within the realm of endocrinology, there is lack of a comprehensive analysis regarding these pathologies in addition to education materials related to their medical work-up or management. The aim of this study was to assess contemporary online patient education material in endocrinology and management of care.

Methods: Analysis of the readability of 1,500 unique online education materials was performed utilizing seven readability measures: Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Gunning Fog Index Readability Formula (FOG), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook Index (SMOG), Coleman-Liau Index (CLI), automated readability index (ARI), and Linsear Write Formula (LWF).

Results: The average grade level readability scores from six measures (e.g., FKGL, FOG, SMOG, CLI, ARI, LWF) was more than or equal to 11 which corresponds to a reading level at or above the 11th grade. The average FRE between adrenal, diabetes, and thyroid-related education m aterial ranged between "fairly difficult" to "very difficult".

Conclusions: The readability of contemporary online endocrine education material did not meet current readability recommendations for appropriate comprehension of the general audience.

Keywords: adrenal glands; diabetes mellitus; patient education; readability; thyroid.

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