Affiliations: [a] Department of Neurological Surgery, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA | [b] Department of Radiology, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA | [c] Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Charles J. Prestigiacomo, M.D., F.A.C.S., 90 Bergen Street, Suite 8100, PO Box 1709, Newark, NJ 07101-1709, USA. Tel.: +1 973 972 1163; Fax: +1 973 972 8122; E-mail: c.prestigiacomo@umdnj.edu
Abstract: Objective:To evaluate the quality of online patient education materials for rehabilitation following neurological surgery. Methods:Materials were obtained from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). After removing unnecessary formatting, the readability of each site was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level evaluations with Microsoft Office Word software. Results:The average values of the Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level were 41.5 and 11.8, respectively, which are well outside the recommended reading levels for the average American. Moreover, no online section was written below a ninth grade reading level. Conclusion:Evaluations of several websites from the NINDS, NLM, AOTA, and AAOS demonstrated that their reading levels were higher than that of the average American. Improved readability might be beneficial for patient education. Ultimately, increased patient comprehension may correlate to positive clinical outcomes.
Keywords: Readability, online, patient education, rehabilitation, neurological surgery
