Evaluation of readability levels of online patient education materials for female pelvic floor disorders

Abstract

Most women hesitate to seek help from healthcare providers as they find it difficult to share complaints of involuntary leakage or vaginal prolapse. Hence, they often refer to the websites of national and/or international bodies’ patient education materials (PEMs), which are considered the most reliable sources. The crucial factor that determines their usefulness is their readability level, which makes them “easy” or “difficult” to read, and is recommended, not to exceed the sixth grade level. In this study, we aimed to assess the readability levels of Turkish translated PEMs from the websites of the International Urogynecological Association and the European Association of Urology and the PEMs originally written in Turkish from the website of the Society of Urological Surgery in Turkey. All the PEMs (n = 52) were analyzed by online calculators using the Atesman formula, Flesch-Kincaid grade level, and Gunning Fog index. The readability parameters, number of sentences, words, letters, syllables, and readability intervals of these methods were compared among the groups using the Kruskal-Wallis test, or ANOVA test, with post hoc comparisons where appropriate. The readability level of all PEMs is at least at an “averagely difficult” interval, according to both assessment methods. No significant differences were found among the PEM groups in terms of readability parameters and assessment methods (P > .05). Whether original or translated, international or national societies’ PEMs’ readability scores were above the recommended level of sixth grade. Thus, the development of PEMs needs to be revised accordingly by relevant authorities.