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Patient Education for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Analysis of Readability

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The National Institutes of Health and American Medical Association recommend a sixth grade reading level for patient-directed content. This study aims to quantitatively evaluate the readability of the most commonly used resources for surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. METHODS: A web search for "carpal tunnel surgery" was performed using an Internet search engine, and the 13 most popular sites were identified. Relevant, patient-directed articles immediately accessible from the main site were downloaded and formatted into plain text. A total of 102 articles were assessed for readability using ten established analyses: first overall, then by website for comparison. RESULTS: Patient information about carpal tunnel surgery had an overall average reading level of 13.1. Secondary analysis by website revealed a range of mean readability from 10.8 (high school sophomore level) to 15.3 (university junior level). All sites exceeded the recommended sixth grade reading level. CONCLUSIONS: Online patient resources for carpal tunnel surgery uniformly exceed the recommended reading level. These are too difficult to be understood by a large portion of American adults. A better understanding of readability may be useful in tailoring more appropriate resources for average patient literacy.

Source: Hand

DOI: 10.1007/s11552-014-9718-7

Authors: Kyle R. Eberlin, Christina R. Vargas, Danielle J. Chuang, Bernard T. Lee

Institutions: Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Language: English

Topic: Health Literacy and Information Accessibility

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W2028782432

FWCI: 3.973

Cites: 33

Cited by: 30

Related to: 10