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EVALUATION OF LITERACY LEVEL OF PATIENT EDUCATION PAGES IN HEALTH-RELATED JOURNALS

Journal of Community Health volume 30, pages 213–219 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reading level of patient education material from selected current health care journals. Ten patient education pages from a variety of health care journals were entered into a Microsoft Word program. Applying the Flesch–Kincaid readability formula available from Microsoft Word, a reading level for each page was established and compared to recommended standards. Only 2 of 10 patient education pages fell within the recommended reading levels for health-related materials, and 5 of 10 were above the estimated mean U.S. reading level of 8th grade. A 5th to 6th grade level is recommended for patient education materials. This study suggests that although it is known that low health literacy is a widespread problem, it is not always considered when patient-targeted materials are developed. Health care professionals need to become more active in addressing the literacy needs of the intended receiver of written health-related information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences, University of Delaware, 204B Alison Hall, Newark, DE, 19716-3750

    Nancy Cotugna, Connie E. Vickery & Kara M. Carpenter-Haefele

Authors
  1. Nancy Cotugna
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  2. Connie E. Vickery
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  3. Kara M. Carpenter-Haefele
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Correspondence to Nancy Cotugna.

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Cotugna, N., Vickery, C.E. & Carpenter-Haefele, K.M. EVALUATION OF LITERACY LEVEL OF PATIENT EDUCATION PAGES IN HEALTH-RELATED JOURNALS . J Community Health 30, 213–219 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-004-1959-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-004-1959-x

Keywords

  • Literacy
  • patient education
  • readability
  • health information