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Readability of Online Patient Education Materials From the AAOS Web Site

  • Original Article
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Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research

Abstract

One of the goals of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is to disseminate patient education materials that suit the readability skills of the patient population. According to standard guidelines from healthcare organizations, the readability of patient education materials should be no higher than the sixth-grade level. We hypothesized the readability level of patient education materials available on the AAOS Web site would be higher than the recommended grade level, regardless when the material was available online. Readability scores of all articles from the AAOS Internet-based patient information Web site, “Your Orthopaedic Connection,” were determined using the Flesch-Kincaid grade formula. The mean Flesch-Kincaid grade level of the 426 unique articles was 10.43. Only 10 (2%) of the articles had the recommended readability level of sixth grade or lower. The readability of the articles did not change with time. Our findings suggest the majority of the patient education materials available on the AAOS Web site had readability scores that may be too difficult for comprehension by a substantial portion of the patient population.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the contributions of Caixia Zhao, MD, and Emily McClemens, PA-C, in preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedics, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey–New Jersey Medical School, Doctor’s Office Center, 90 Bergen Street, Suite 7300, Newark, NJ, 07103, USA

    Sanjeev Sabharwal MD, Sameer Badarudeen MBBS & Shebna Unes Kunju MBBS

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  1. Sanjeev Sabharwal MD
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  2. Sameer Badarudeen MBBS
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  3. Shebna Unes Kunju MBBS
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Correspondence to Sanjeev Sabharwal MD.

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Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (eg, consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

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Sabharwal, S., Badarudeen, S. & Unes Kunju, S. Readability of Online Patient Education Materials From the AAOS Web Site. Clin Orthop Relat Res 466, 1245–1250 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-008-0193-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-008-0193-8

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