Readability of Online Neuro-Oncology-Related Patient Education Materials from Tertiary-Care Academic Centers

Abstract

Background: The Internet has become a popular resource for patients to research diagnosed or suspected medical diseases. Medical institutions provide comprehensive online education resources about various conditions to the general public. The U.S. National Institutes of Health and American Medical Association recommend that patient education materials aimed at the general population should be written at or below eighth-grade reading level. The goal of this study is to assess the readability of patient education materials for central nervous system tumors across tertiary-care institutions.

Methods: Patient education materials were collected from National Cancer Institute designated cancer centers in October 2019. Materials were analyzed by Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) score using Microsoft Office Word software. Subgroups were formed based on regions in the United States (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West) as well as diagnostic and treatment information.

Results: A total of 180 documents were collected across 50 institutions. Overall median FKGL was 12.5, and median FRE was 38.2. Median FKGL for diagnostic information was 11.6 and FRE was 43.0, whereas median FKGL for treatment information was 12.9 and median FRE was 34.3. No statistically significant differences were seen for both FKGL and FRE among geographic regions (P > 0.05).

Conclusions: Online neuro-oncology patient education materials from tertiary institutions are written above recommended reading levels. Future efforts should be taken to improve the readability of brain tumor-specific patient education materials, particularly with information relating to treatment.

Keywords: Health literacy; Neuro-oncology; Patient education.