BACKGROUND Accurate assessment of the difficulty of consumer health texts is a prerequisite for improving readability. General purpose readability formulas based primarily on word length are not well suited for the health domain, where short technical terms may be unfamiliar to consumers. To address this need, we previously developed a regression model for predicting "average familiarity" with ...

During software programming, code readability is very important because it affects the understanding of the code context, facilitates communication and collaboration between team members, and it avoids problematic software maintenance. In this study, our research hypothesis was that the coding style affects the code readability. Developers who do not comply with coding conventions and guideline...

Readability is considered as a important element in effective communication. The patent claims are regarded as typical bad example of readability since they are written in long sentences and the structure is complex among different claims. In one patent document, the several claims contain hierarchical structure within each other. In this project, we want to improve the patent claims readabilit...

IntroductIon: The internet is a widely-used resource for patients who seek surgical information. Many patients have wrong expectations of treatment options due to low quality surgical information online. High quality patient information should not exceed a 7th-grade reading level according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). We undertook a comparative readabil...

Introduction Older men are at increased risk for prostate cancer. As seniors turn to the Internet for cancer information, it is important that the resources they locate about lifestyle behaviors and screening are culturally appropriate and easy to understand. This study was a comprehensive analysis of prostate cancer risk as portrayed on the Internet with assessment of content readability and c...

With regard to the relationship between the use of modality and readability levels oftexts, 2 opposing views have been raised. The first view endorses direct positiverelationship between modality and readability in the sense that the use of modalityincreases textual understandability. The second view is that the use of modality leadsto an increase in the number of words, resulting in readabilit...

BACKGROUND Nearly half of American adults have low or marginal health literacy. This negatively affects patients' participation, decision-making, satisfaction, and overall outcomes especially when there is a mismatch between information provided and the skills of the intended audience. Recommendations that patient information be written below the sixth grade level have been made for over three ...

IntroductIon: The internet is a widely-used resource for patients who seek surgical information. Many patients have wrong expectations of treatment options due to low quality surgical information online. High quality patient information should not exceed a 7th-grade reading level according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). We undertook a comparative readabil...

BACKGROUND To facilitate informed consent, consent forms should use language below the grade eight level. Research Ethics Boards (REBs) provide consent form templates to facilitate this goal. Templates with inappropriate language could promote consent forms that participants find difficult to understand. However, a linguistic analysis of templates is lacking. METHODS We reviewed the websites ...