Online healthcare information is used by patients, their carers and families (PCF) experiencing speech and language difficulties (SLD) after a stroke. This information may be of variable quality. Tools have been designed to assess the risk of poor information quality, evaluating both generic and specific concepts, yet none focus on stroke. The readability of information is also an issue when co...

The aim of this study was to design an information leaflet for patients with paracetamol overdose based on Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency guidance and to assess its readability. A two-sided one page information leaflet was designed for patients being discharged from hospital after a paracetamol overdose. Patients presenting with an acute paracetamol overdose, irrespective o...

OBJECTIVES To identify websites with adequate information on oral cancer screening for healthcare professionals (HCPs) and to assess both their quality and contents. STUDY DESIGN Websites were identified using Google and HON medical professional search engines using the terms "screening for oral cancer". The first 100 sites retrieved by each engine were analysed using the DISCERN questionnair...

BACKGROUND The understandability and readability of the text are significant indicators of evaluation of textbooks. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study - rationale of improving the readability and understandability of textbooks. METHODS 60 modern textbooks for 5-11th classes on History, Physics, Biology and 23 textbooks of 1960-1980's edition. Flesch index was used to assess the readability, Fog...

We evaluated the readability of Internet-sourced patient education materials (PEMs) related to "labour analgesia." In addition to assessing the readability of websites, we aimed to compare commercial, personal, and academic websites.We used the most popular search engine (http://www.google.com) in our study. The first 100 websites in English that resulted from a search for the key words "labour...

OBJECTIVE Americans are increasingly turning to the Internet as a source of health care information. These online resources should be written at a level readily understood by the average American. This study evaluates the readability of online patient education information available from the American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) professional Web site us...

BACKGROUND The Internet is increasingly used to access health information, although the quality of information varies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the readability, and quality of websites about polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). METHODS Three UK search engines (Google, Yahoo and Bing) were searched for the term 'polymyalgia rheumatica'. After deleting duplicates, the first 50 eligible we...

BACKGROUND Government policy in the UK emphasises providing patients with good health information to encourage participation in their health care. Patient information leaflets (PILs) form part of this policy and have been shown to affect patient health outcomes; however, many are poorly written. AIM To describe the PILs in general practice surgeries in Stoke-on-Trent in terms of readability a...

OBJECTIVE To analyze readability and legibility of a systematic sample of health education materials made available at a health center, and to propose recommendations for improvement. DESIGN Observational, descriptive study. SETTING An urban health center in Madrid, Spain. MATERIAL A sample of text from 326 health education documents. MAIN MEASURES The 326 texts were classified accordin...

Objective: we wanted to know if patients read and understand the informed consent (IC) document used for endoscopic procedures, and to evaluate the readability of IC. Method: during two months we gave patients studied in our endoscopy unit an anonymous questionnaire with different items concerning reading degree, knowledge of the technique, complications, sedation used, and information received...