Greywoode Jewel, Bluman Eric, Spiegel Joseph, Boon Maurits
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2009 Nov;141(5):555-8. doi: 10.1016/j.otohns.2009.08.004. Epub 2009 Oct 1.
To evaluate the readability of patient-oriented online health information (OHI) presented on the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) website.
Review of the Flesch-Kincaid (FK) grade level for 104 articles on the AAO-HNS website.
The FK grade level for 104 articles was determined using the readability calculator available within Microsoft Office Word 2003. The interobserver reliability for the FK grade level was determined by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for 52 entries.
The average FK grade reading level of the articles was 10.8 (range 6.3-16.7; 95% CI, 10.4-11.2). Eighty-one percent of the articles were written at a ninth grade level or higher. The intraclass correlation was good (r = 0.83) for the 52 articles that were independently reviewed.
This analysis has shown that the average reading level for each article on the AAO-HNS site was higher than the recommended sixth grade reading level. Although the AAO-HNS site is written at a higher level than that suggested for the general public, it is important to realize that readability is just one consideration in the evaluation of OHI comprehension. Physicians need to be cognizant of their patients' ability to read and comprehend written information and tailor their educational material appropriately.
评估美国耳鼻咽喉-头颈外科学会（AAO-HNS）网站上提供的面向患者的在线健康信息（OHI）的可读性。
回顾AAO-HNS网站上104篇文章的弗莱什-金凯德（FK）年级水平。
使用Microsoft Office Word 2003中可用的可读性计算器确定104篇文章的FK年级水平。通过计算52篇文章条目的组内相关系数（ICC）来确定FK年级水平的观察者间信度。
文章的平均FK年级阅读水平为10.8（范围6.3 - 16.7；95%可信区间，10.4 - 11.2）。81%的文章写作水平达到九年级或更高。对52篇独立评审的文章而言，组内相关性良好（r = 0.83）。
该分析表明，AAO-HNS网站上每篇文章的平均阅读水平高于推荐的六年级阅读水平。尽管AAO-HNS网站的写作水平高于针对普通大众建议的水平，但重要的是要认识到，可读性只是评估OHI理解情况时的一个考虑因素。医生需要了解其患者阅读和理解书面信息的能力，并适当地调整他们的教育材料。
