N Sivanadarajah|Ibraheim El-Daly|Georgios Mamarelis|Mohammad Zain Sohail|Peter Bates
Informed consent and the readability of the written consent form
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust|University College London|Barts Health NHS Trust|Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust|Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust|Barts Health NHS Trust
introduction aim study objectively ascertain level readability standardised consent forms orthopaedic procedures methods standardised consent forms summary detailed formats endorsed british orthopaedic association boa retrieved orthoconsentcom assessed readability involved using online tool calculate validated flesch reading ease score fres compared fres national health service nhs consent form 1 data analysed interpreted according fres grading table results fres consent form 1 556 relating literacy expected level student mean fres boa summary consent forms n27 636 95 confidence interval ci 612660 detailed consent forms n32 689 95 ci 677700 boa detailed forms scored gt60 correlating literacy expected 1315yearold detailed forms higher fres summary forms plt0001 conclusions study demonstrates boa endorsed standardised consent forms much easier read understand nhs consent form 1 detailed boa forms easiest read despite owing varying literacy levels significant proportion patients may struggle give informed consent based written information provided