Publication
Readability Assessment of Patient Education Material Published by German-Speaking Associations of Urology
Journal Paper/Review - Nov 18, 2017
Betschart Patrick, Zumstein Valentin, Hasan Ali Omar, Schmid Hans-Peter, Abt Dominik
Units
PubMed
Doi
Citation
Type
Journal
Publication Date
Issn Electronic
Pages
Brief description/objective
OBJECTIVE
To assess the readability and comprehensibility of web-based German-language patient education material (PEM) issued by urological associations.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
German PEM available in June 2017 was obtained from the European Association of Urology (EAU), German (DGU), Swiss (SGU) and Austrian (ÖGU) Association of Urology websites. Each educational text was analyzed separately using 4 well-established readability assessment tools: the Amstad Test (AT), G-SMOG (SMOG), Wiener Sachtextformel (WS) and the Lesbarkeitsindex (LIX).
RESULTS
The EAU has issued PEM on 8 topics, the DGU 22 and the SGU 5. The ÖGU refers to the PEMs published by the DGU. Calculation of grade levels (SMOG, WS, LIX) showed readability scores of the 7th-14th grades. The easiest readability was found for materials on Nocturia and Urinary Incontinence issued by the EAU. Kidney Cancer and Infertility, issued by the DGU had the hardest readability. The EAU achieved the best median AT score, followed by the SGU, and the DGU.
CONCLUSION
Remarkable differences between readability were found for the PEMs issued by EAU, DGU and SGU. Materials published by the EAU were the easiest to read. Improving the readability of certain PEMs is of crucial importance to meet patient needs and act in the interests of a growing, self-informing German-speaking patient community.