Andrea D Kelley
Medical schools as cisgendered organizations
Social science & medicine (1982)
health literacy strong indicator health outcomes important aspect good patient care increasing reliance internet health information online patient materials easily understood average reader american medical association ama national institutes health nih recommend patient education materials written sixthgrade level creating effective digital information requires careful consideration word choice also many factors including actionability comprehensiveness evidence visual organization support creation valuable online health content office disease prevention health promotion odphp published health literacy online researchbased guide discusses design digital health information toolsthis study aims assess effectiveness online patient education materials regarding vocal tremor assess effectiveness patient education materials published american laryngological association evaluate usefulness health literacy online guide creating effective online patient education materials laryngological diseases first 50 unsponsored search results terms vocal tremor essential vocal tremor evaluated website analyzed using flesch reading ease score fres fleschkincaid grade level fkgl readability tests discern instrument patient education materials assessment tool pemat resources published american laryngological association also evaluated manner 100 websites identified initial queries 14 websites included analysis average fres fkgl scores 4721 1047 1096 246 respectively indicating readers need 11thgrade education comprehend materials average discern score 2250 976 indicating poor quality serious shortcomings appropriate sources information treatment choices average pemat understandability score 6843 980 actionability score 2000 2353 indicating information fairly difficult process help identify next steps materials published american laryngological association ala average fres fkgl scores 3833 1281 1256 215 respectively indicating 12thgrade reading level discern score 27 consistent across item indicating poor quality pemat understandability score 45 actionability score 0 indicating difficult process help identify next steps writing revised sample information provided ala based odphps health literacy online tool new fres fkgl score 756 59 respectively new discern score 35 new pemat understandability scores 79 actionability scores 80 study found publicly available online patient education materials essential vocal tremor laryngological diseases use plain language require reading levels advanced average reader comprehend addition websites poor quality readability therefore less likely benefit individuals decisionmaking age people seek information internet lack easily understood online patient resources reduces usefulness resources many individuals professional organizations societies like american laryngological association may consider use health literacy online tool resource provide accurate easily understandable patient education resources