METHODS: All top-rated tweets (as per Twitter algorithm) under #PlasticSurgery in January 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Data from tweets with links to full, open access and society/ institutional patient information articles were extracted. Content and identity of the person tweeting was assessed. Readability was analyzed using established tests: Coleman-Liau, Flesch-Kincaid, Flesch Readi...

background because the quality of information on the internet is of dubious worth, many patients seek out reliable expert sources. as per the american medical association (ama) and the national institutes of health (nih) recommendations, readability of patient education materials should not exceed a sixth-grade reading level. the average reading skill of u.s. adults is at the eighth-grade level...

obtaining informed consents is one of the most fundamental principles in conducting a clinical trial. in order for the consent to be informed, the patient must receive and comprehend the information appropriately. complexity of the consent form is a common problem that has been shown to be a major barrier to comprehension for many patients. the objective of this study was to assess the readabil...

BACKGROUND Patients increasingly use the internet to access health information. Inadequate health literacy is common and frequently limits patient comprehension of healthcare literature. We aimed to assess the readability of online consumer-orientated Parkinson's disease (PD) information using two validated measures. METHOD We identified the 100 highest ranked consumer-orientated PD webpages ...

Obtaining informed consents is one of the most fundamental principles in conducting a clinical trial. In order for the consent to be informed, the patient must receive and comprehend the information appropriately. Complexity of the consent form is a common problem that has been shown to be a major barrier to comprehension for many patients. The objective of this study was to assess the readabil...

In this paper we investigate how readability varies between texts originally written in English and texts translated into English. For quantification, we analyze several factors that are relevant in assessing readability – shallow, lexical and morpho-syntactic features – and we employ the widely used Flesch-Kincaid formula to measure the variation of the readability level between original Engli...

samples of participants’ writing were scored by two raters using toefl writing scoring rubric. the readability index of each text was calculated through the use of six readability formulae and graphs, i.e., flesch-kincaid index, reading ease index, fog index, smog formula, fry’s graph, and dale-chall readability index. the scores given to each essay were later compared to the obtained readabili...

IMPORTANCE Patients are increasingly using the Internet to supplement finding medical information, which can be complex and requires a high level of reading comprehension. Online ophthalmologic materials from major ophthalmologic associations should be written at an appropriate reading level. OBJECTIVES To assess ophthalmologic online patient education materials (PEMs) on ophthalmologic assoc...