Readability assessment of online thyroid surgery patient education materials

• DOI: 10.1002/hed.23157
• Publication Date: 2012-09-13T07:00:09Z
• Authors: Chirag R. Patel; Deepa V. Cherla; Saurin Sanghvi; Soly Baredes; Jean Anderson Eloy
• Keywords: Grade level; Reading level

Background Published guidelines recommend written health information be at or below the sixth‐grade level. We evaluate readability of online materials related to thyroid surgery. Methods Thyroid surgery were evaluated using Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Gunning Frequency Gobbledygook (GFOG), and Simple Measure (SMOG). Results Thirty‐one documents evaluated. FRES scores ranged from 29.3 67.8 (possible range = 0 100), averaged 50.5. FKGL 6.9 14.9 3 12), 10.4. SMOG 11.8 14.5 19), 13.0. GFOG 10.6 18.0 13.5. Conclusions Readability for are higher (i.e., more difficult) than recommended levels. However, is only one aspect comprehension. Written should designed with that fact in mind. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 35: 1421–1425, 2013