Arnold Connie L, Davis Terry C, Frempong Janet Ohene, Humiston Sharon G, Bocchini Anna, Kennen Estela M, Lloyd-Puryear Michele
Department of Internal Medicine, Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport, Louisiana 71130, USA.
Pediatrics. 2006 May;117(5 Pt 2):S320-5. doi: 10.1542/peds.2005-2633L.
The purpose of this study was to measure the readability and user-friendliness (clarity, complexity, organization, appearance, and cultural appropriateness of materials) of parent education brochures on newborn screening.
We studied English-language versions of the brochures that state newborn screening programs prepare and distribute. We obtained brochures from 48 states and Puerto Rico. We evaluated each brochure for readability with the Flesch reading ease formula. User-friendliness of the brochures was assessed with an instrument we created that contained 22 specific criteria grouped into 5 categories, ie, layout, illustrations, message, manageable information, and cultural appropriateness.
Most current newborn screening brochures should be revised to make them more readable and user-friendly for parents. Ninety-two percent of brochures were written at a reading level that is higher than the average reading level of US adults (eighth-grade level). In most brochures, the essential information for parents was buried. Although all brochures were brief and focused on the newborn screening tests being performed, 81% needed improvement in getting to the point quickly and making it easy for parents to identify what they needed to know or to do. None of the brochures scored high in all 22 criteria on the user-friendliness checklist.
Parent education materials about newborn screening should be revised to be easier to read and more user-friendly, by lowering the reading difficulty to eighth-grade level and focusing on issues such as layout, illustrations, message, information, and cultural appropriateness. It is important that state newborn screening programs and organizations work with parents to develop and to evaluate materials to ensure that they are user-friendly.
本研究旨在评估新生儿筛查家长教育手册的可读性及用户友好度（材料的清晰度、复杂性、组织性、外观和文化适宜性）。
我们研究了各州新生儿筛查项目编写并分发的手册英文版本。我们从48个州和波多黎各获取了手册。我们使用弗莱什易读性公式评估每本手册的可读性。手册的用户友好度通过我们创建的一个包含22项具体标准的工具进行评估，这些标准分为5类，即布局、插图、信息、可管理信息和文化适宜性。
大多数现行的新生儿筛查手册应进行修订，以使其对家长而言更具可读性和用户友好度。92%的手册所针对的阅读水平高于美国成年人的平均阅读水平（八年级水平）。在大多数手册中，对家长而言的关键信息都被埋没了。尽管所有手册都很简短且聚焦于正在进行的新生儿筛查测试，但81%的手册在迅速切入重点以及让家长轻松识别他们需要了解或做的事情方面需要改进。在用户友好度清单的所有22项标准中，没有一本手册得分很高。
关于新生儿筛查的家长教育材料应进行修订，通过将阅读难度降低到八年级水平并关注布局、插图、信息、信息呈现和文化适宜性等问题，使其更易于阅读且更具用户友好度。各州新生儿筛查项目和组织与家长合作开发和评估材料以确保其对用户友好非常重要。
