Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines: How Readable Are Internet-Based Patient Education Resources?
- PMID: 29708784
- DOI: 10.2214/AJR.17.19042
Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines: How Readable Are Internet-Based Patient Education Resources?
Abstract
Objective: Following the findings of the National Lung Screening Trial, several national societies from multiple disciplines have endorsed the use of low-dose chest CT to screen for lung cancer. Online patient education materials are an important tool to disseminate information to the general public regarding the proven health benefits of lung cancer screening. This study aims to evaluate the reading level at which these materials related to lung cancer screening are written.
Materials and methods: The four terms "pulmonary nodule," "radiation," "low-dose CT," and "lung cancer screening" were searched on Google, and the first 20 online resources for each term were downloaded, converted into plain text, and analyzed using 10 well-established readability scales. If the websites were not written specifically for patients, they were excluded.
Results: The 80 articles were written at a 12.6 ± 2.7 (mean ± SD) grade level, with grade levels ranging from 4.0 to 19.0. Of the 80 articles, 62.5% required a high school education to comprehend, and 22.6% required a college degree or higher (≥ 16th grade) to comprehend. Only 2.5% of the analyzed articles adhered to the recommendations of the National Institutes of Health and American Medical Association that patient education materials be written at a 3rd- to 7th-grade reading level.
Conclusion: Commonly visited online lung cancer screening-related patient education materials are written at a level beyond the general patient population's ability to comprehend and may be contributing to a knowledge gap that is inhibiting patients from improving their health literacy.
Keywords: lung cancer screening; patient education; pulmonary nodule; readability.
Similar articles
-
An online readability analysis of pathology-related patient education articles: an opportunity for pathologists to educate patients.Hum Pathol. 2017 Jul;65:15-20. doi: 10.1016/j.humpath.2017.04.020. Epub 2017 May 10. Hum Pathol. 2017. PMID: 28504209
-
Online palliative care and oncology patient education resources through Google: Do they meet national health literacy recommendations?Pract Radiat Oncol. 2017 Sep-Oct;7(5):306-310. doi: 10.1016/j.prro.2017.01.013. Epub 2017 Jan 27. Pract Radiat Oncol. 2017. PMID: 28341318
-
Radiation Oncology and Online Patient Education Materials: Deviating From NIH and AMA Recommendations.Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2016 Nov 1;96(3):521-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2016.06.2449. Epub 2016 Jun 25. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2016. PMID: 27681748
-
The Readability of AAOS Patient Education Materials: Evaluating the Progress Since 2008.J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2016 Sep 7;98(17):e70. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.15.00658. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2016. PMID: 27605695 Review.
-
A critical review of the readability of online patient education resources from RadiologyInfo.Org.AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2014 Mar;202(3):566-75. doi: 10.2214/AJR.13.11223. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2014. PMID: 24555593 Review.
Cited by
-
Barriers, Facilitators, and Suggested Interventions for Lung Cancer Screening Among a Rural Screening-Eligible Population.J Prim Care Community Health. 2020 Jan-Dec;11:2150132720930544. doi: 10.1177/2150132720930544. J Prim Care Community Health. 2020. PMID: 32506999 Free PMC article.
-
Evaluation of the Informational Content and Readability of US Lung Cancer Screening Program Websites.JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Jan 3;3(1):e1920431. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.20431. JAMA Netw Open. 2020. PMID: 32003825 Free PMC article.
-
Online Search Behavior for Cancer Immunotherapy Resources and Readability Analysis: An Opportunity to Aid in Medical Decision-making.Cureus. 2019 Oct 7;11(10):e5857. doi: 10.7759/cureus.5857. Cureus. 2019. PMID: 31763080 Free PMC article.
-
Occurrence of Discussion about Lung Cancer Screening Between Patients and Healthcare Providers in the USA, 2017.J Cancer Educ. 2020 Aug;35(4):678-681. doi: 10.1007/s13187-019-01510-9. J Cancer Educ. 2020. PMID: 30852789
-
Lung cancer screening: assessment of health literacy and readability of online educational resources.BMC Public Health. 2018 Dec 7;18(1):1356. doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-6278-8. BMC Public Health. 2018. PMID: 30526544 Free PMC article.
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous