Readability analysis of healthcare-oriented education resources from the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Objectives/hypothesis: Deficient health literacy remains a widespread public issue. As such, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends that all patient resources should be written around a sixth-grade level. The authors evaluate healthcare-oriented resources specified for patient use on the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) Web site in order to identify potential areas of improvement and highlight those sections that may serve as paradigms for future revisions.

Study design: Descriptive and correlational design.

Methods: Seventeen healthcare-oriented resources specifically for patients were downloaded in February 2012 from the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Web site. Readability assessments of each article were performed using Readability Studio Professional Edition Version 2012.1. These tests included the Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, SMOG Grading, Coleman-Liau Index, Gunning-Fog Index, the New Fog Count, the New Dale-Chall Readability Formula, FORCAST formula, Raygor Readability Estimate, and the Fry Graph.

Results: Patient health education material found on the AAFPRS Web site has been found to be written at an average grade level of 12th grade using 10 different readability scales.

Conclusions: Modifications of the patient education section of the AAFPRS Web site can increase the readability of the literature, and allow greater comprehension among a wider audience.