Maimonides Medical Center, Orthopaedic Surgery, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A..
Maimonides Medical Center, Orthopaedic Surgery, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.
Arthroscopy. 2018 Apr;34(4):1272-1279. doi: 10.1016/j.arthro.2017.09.043. Epub 2017 Dec 26.
To assess the readability and comprehension of written text by the most commonly visited websites containing patient education materials on common conditions that can be treated arthroscopically.
We examined 50 websites, assessed independently by 2 orthopaedic surgery residents (S.A. and G.G.), with educational materials on 5 common conditions treated by arthroscopic surgeons: anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear, meniscus tear, hip labral tear, shoulder labral tear, and rotator cuff tear. Following a Google search for each condition, we analyzed the 10 most visited websites for each disorder using a widely used and validated tool for assessing the reading levels of written materials (Flesch-Kincaid formula).
The average grade reading level of the 50 websites studied was 9.90 with a reading ease of 52.14 ("fairly difficult, high school"). Only 26% of the websites were at or below the national average of an eighth-grade reading level. Of the 5 conditions treated by arthroscopic surgery, ACL tear had the highest average grade reading level at 10.73 ± 1.54, whereas meniscus tear had the lowest at 9.31 ± 1.81. Every condition in this study had an average readability at or above the ninth-grade reading level.
The most frequently accessed materials for patients with injuries requiring arthroscopic surgery exceeds the readability recommendations of the American Medical Association and National Institutes of Health, as well as the average reading ability of US adults. Given the fact that these are the most commonly visited websites by the lay public, there needs to be a greater emphasis on tailoring written information to the literacy levels of the patient population.
This study emphasizes the discrepancy between the recommended versus the measured reading levels of online patient education materials related to conditions treated by arthroscopic surgeons. The subject matter of these conditions is inherently complex; thus, relying solely on text to inform patients increases the likelihood that the reading level of the material exceeds that of the majority of the lay public.
评估最常访问的包含可经关节镜治疗常见疾病患者教育材料的网站上的书面文本的可读性和理解度。
我们检查了 50 个网站，由 2 名骨科住院医师（S.A. 和 G.G.）独立评估，这些网站上有 5 种常见疾病的经关节镜治疗的教育材料：前交叉韧带（ACL）撕裂、半月板撕裂、髋关节盂唇撕裂、肩关节盂唇撕裂和肩袖撕裂。在对每种疾病进行谷歌搜索后，我们使用一种广泛使用且经过验证的评估书面材料阅读水平的工具（弗莱什-金凯德公式）分析了每种疾病的 10 个最常访问的网站。
研究的 50 个网站的平均阅读水平为 9.90，阅读舒适度为 52.14（“相当难，高中水平”）。只有 26%的网站达到或低于全国八年级阅读水平的平均水平。在经关节镜治疗的 5 种疾病中，ACL 撕裂的平均阅读水平最高，为 10.73 ± 1.54，而半月板撕裂的平均阅读水平最低，为 9.31 ± 1.81。本研究中的每种疾病的平均可读性都达到或高于九年级阅读水平。
最常访问的需要关节镜手术治疗的损伤患者的材料超过了美国医学协会和美国国立卫生研究院以及美国成年人平均阅读能力的可读性建议。鉴于这些是公众最常访问的网站，需要更加注重根据患者人群的识字水平调整书面信息。
本研究强调了与经关节镜治疗的疾病相关的在线患者教育材料的建议阅读水平与实际测量阅读水平之间的差异。这些疾病的主题本质上很复杂；因此，仅仅依靠文本向患者提供信息增加了材料阅读水平超过大多数非专业人士的可能性。
