Readability of Patient Educational Materials in Hip and Knee Arthroplasty: Has a Decade Made a Difference?

BACKGROUND

The Internet has become an increasingly popular resource among orthopedic patients for health education. Numerous organisations recommend that patient educational materials (PEMs) should not exceed the 6 grade reading level. Despite this, studies have repeatedly shown the reading grade level (RGL) of PEMs to be too advanced across a range of surgical specialties. We aimed to determine the readability of online hip and knee arthroplasty PEMs.

METHODS

The readability of 134 articles pertaining to hip and knee arthroplasty from 5leading worldwide healthcare websites were assessed, using 8 readability formulae; the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Grade Level, the Flesch Reading Ease Score, Raygor Estimate, SMOG, Coleman-Liau, Fry, FORCAST and Gunning Fog. The mean RGL was compared to the 6 and 8grade reading level. The mean RGL of each website was also compared.

RESULTS

The mean cumulative RGL was 12 (range = 7-16.1). No articles (0%) were written at a 6 grade reading level and only 4 articles (3%) were written at or below the 8 grade reading level. The mean RGL was significantly higher than the 6 (95% CI, 5.62-6.30; P < .0001) and 8 grade reading level (95% CI, 3.63-4.30; P < .0001). There was a significant difference between the RGLs of the 5websites (P = .001).

CONCLUSION

Arthroplasty PEMs produced by leading worldwide healthcare organisations have readability scores that are above the recommended levels. Given the imperative role of health literacy in patient outcomes and satisfaction, and the increasing prevalence of Internet use among orthopedic patients, a substantial amount of work needs to be done to improve the readability of these materials.