Assessment of the Readability of the Online Patient Education Materials of Intensive and Critical Care Societies
Authors' conclusion
Compared with the sixth-grade level recommended by the American Medical Association and the National Institutes of Health, the readability of PEMs in intensive and critical care societies is relatively high.
Study context
- Population
- Patient education materials (PEMs) on websites of intensive and critical care societies (members of the World Federation of Intensive and Critical Care and ESICM)PEMs from 11 societies
- Participants
- 127 participants
- Outcome
- Readability (FRES, FKGL, SMOG, GFOG)
Methodological detailsinternet-based, readability study
- Internet-based
- Readability study
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Readability of PEMs
- Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) (difficult)
- 58.10 (48.85-63.77)
- Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), mean (years)
- 10.19 (8.93-11.72)
- Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), mean (years)
- 11.10 (10.11-11.87)
- Gunning Fog (GFOG), mean (very difficult)
- 12.73 (11.37-14.15)
- All readability formula results significantly higher than recommended sixth-grade level
- p < 0.001
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
- All PEMs above sixth-grade level for each society on all readability results
- P < 0.05
Original publication
Assessment of the Readability of the Online Patient Education Materials of Intensive and Critical Care Societies. Crit Care Med. Published 13 November 2023. doi:10.
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