Experimental Therapeutics, BC Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Cancer Control. 2021 Jan-Dec;28:1073274821989709. doi: 10.1177/1073274821989709.
The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted the reorganization in the scheduling and method of care for many patients, including patients diagnosed with cancer. Cancer patients, who have an immunocompromised status, may be at a higher risk of severe symptoms from infection with COVID-19. While information is rapidly evolving regarding COVID-19, Canada, both nationally and provincially, has been conveying new information to patients online. We assessed the content and readability of COVID-19-related online Canadian patient education material (PEM) for cancer patients to determine if the content of the material was written at a grade reading level that the majority of Canadians can understand. PEMs were extracted from provincial cancer agencies and the national Canadian Cancer Society, evaluated using 10 readability scales, qualitatively analyzed to identify their themes and difficult word content. Thirty-eight PEMs from both national and provincial cancers associations were, on average, written above the recommended 7th grade level. Each of the associations average grade levels were: BC Cancer (11.00 95% confidence interval [CI] 8.27-13.38), CancerControl Alberta (10.46 95% CI 8.29-12.62), Saskatchewan Cancer Agency (11.08 95% CI 9.37-12.80), Cancer Care Manitoba (9.55 95% CI 6.02-13.01), Cancer Care Ontario (9.35 95% CI 6.80-11.90), Cancer Care Nova Scotia (10.95 95% CI 9.86-12.04), Cancer Care Eastern Health Newfoundland and Labrador (10.14 95% CI 6.87-13.41), and the Canadian Cancer Society (10.06 95% CI 8.07-12.05). Thematic analysis identified 4 themes: public health strategy, information about COVID-19, patient instructions during COVID-19, and resources. Fifty-three percent of the complex words identified were medical jargon. This represents an opportunity to improve PEM readability, to allow for greater comprehension amongst a wider target audience.
2019 年新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）大流行促使许多患者的预约和护理方式发生了变化，包括被诊断患有癌症的患者。患有免疫功能低下的癌症患者可能会因感染 COVID-19 而出现更严重的症状。虽然关于 COVID-19 的信息正在迅速发展，但加拿大无论是在全国范围内还是在省级范围内，都一直在向患者在线发布新信息。我们评估了针对癌症患者的 COVID-19 相关加拿大在线患者教育材料（PEM）的内容和可读性，以确定材料的内容是否以大多数加拿大人能够理解的阅读水平编写。从省级癌症机构和国家加拿大癌症协会提取了 PEM，使用 10 种可读性量表进行评估，定性分析以确定其主题和难词内容。来自国家和省级癌症协会的 38 个 PEM 的平均阅读水平高于推荐的 7 年级水平。每个协会的平均阅读水平分别为：BC 癌症（11.00，95%置信区间[CI]8.27-13.38），艾伯塔癌症控制协会（10.46，95%CI8.29-12.62），萨斯喀彻温癌症协会（11.08，95%CI9.37-12.80），马尼托巴癌症护理协会（9.55，95%CI6.02-13.01），安大略癌症护理协会（9.35，95%CI6.80-11.90），新斯科舍省癌症护理协会（10.95，95%CI9.86-12.04），纽芬兰和拉布拉多省东海岸癌症保健协会（10.14，95%CI6.87-13.41）和加拿大癌症协会（10.06，95%CI8.07-12.05）。主题分析确定了 4 个主题：公共卫生策略，有关 COVID-19 的信息，COVID-19 期间的患者说明以及资源。确定的 53％复杂词汇都是医学术语。这代表着提高 PEM 可读性的机会，可以让更广泛的目标受众更好地理解。
