Comparison of Readability Scores for Written Health Information Across Formulas Using Automated vs Manual Measures
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Open Access
Type
Article, LetterAbstract
Assessing the readability of written health information is a common way to evaluate whether patients are likely to understand it.1 Readability is an objective measure that estimates a text’s equivalent school-grade reading level and is increasingly recommended globally in health ...
See moreAssessing the readability of written health information is a common way to evaluate whether patients are likely to understand it.1 Readability is an objective measure that estimates a text’s equivalent school-grade reading level and is increasingly recommended globally in health policies.2,3 Several formulas for calculating readability exist, and scores can vary substantially depending on the formula applied.4 There has also been a proliferation of automated online calculators that provide readability estimates within seconds. However, the accuracy and consistency of automated calculators have not been evaluated. The aims of this study were to assess (1) the variability of readability scores across automated calculators, (2) the association of text preparation with score variability, and (3) the level of agreement of automated readability scores with the reference standard (manually calculated scores) using the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) Index, the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and the Automated Readability Index (ARI).
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See moreAssessing the readability of written health information is a common way to evaluate whether patients are likely to understand it.1 Readability is an objective measure that estimates a text’s equivalent school-grade reading level and is increasingly recommended globally in health policies.2,3 Several formulas for calculating readability exist, and scores can vary substantially depending on the formula applied.4 There has also been a proliferation of automated online calculators that provide readability estimates within seconds. However, the accuracy and consistency of automated calculators have not been evaluated. The aims of this study were to assess (1) the variability of readability scores across automated calculators, (2) the association of text preparation with score variability, and (3) the level of agreement of automated readability scores with the reference standard (manually calculated scores) using the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) Index, the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and the Automated Readability Index (ARI).
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Date
2022Source title
JAMA Network OpenVolume
5Issue
12Publisher
American Medical AssociationLicence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0Faculty/School
Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney School of Public HealthShare