Donna M. D’Alessandro|Peggy Kingsley|Jill Johnson-West
The Readability of Pediatric Patient Education Materials on the World Wide Web
University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital
literacy national international problem studies shown readability adult pediatric patient education materials high average adults materials written 8thgrade level lowerto determine general readability pediatric patient education materials designed adults world wide web wwwgeneralpediatricscom httpwwwgeneralpediatricscom digital library serving medical information needs pediatric health care providers patients families documents 100 different authoritative web sites designed laypersons evaluated using builtin computer software readability formula flesch reading ease fleschkincaid reading levels hand calculation methods fry formula smog methods analysis variance paired tests determined significanceeightynine documents constituted final sample covered wide spectrum pediatric topics overall flesch reading ease score 570 overall mean fry formula 120 12th grade 0 months schooling smog 122 overall fleschkincaid grade level significantly lower p0001 mean 71 compared 2 methods author institution groups average reading level 106 fry formula smog methodspediatric patient education materials www written appropriate reading level average adult propose practical reading level determined included patient education materials www general guidance material selection discuss suggestions improved readability patient education materials