Assessing the Readability of Patient Education Materials about Diabetes Available in Shiraz Health Centers

Abstract

Introduction: Patient education materials are one of the important factors to improve the health literacy of patients with chronic diseases like diabetes and are employed in order to develop self-care skills. These materials will meet such objectives if they are understandable by their audiences. Hence, the aim of present study was to evaluate the readability of educational resources published about diabetes. Methods: This research was a descriptive study with a content analysis approach. The sample consists of 22 patient education materials about diabetes available in Shiraz health centers in 2012 and their readability was measured by Flesch Dayani index in which readability level is a figure ranging from 0 to 100. The bigger the figure, the higher the readability. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics tests. Results:22 materials were collected which 7 (32%) of them were electronic and 15 (68%) were printed. The average readability score was 40±22. These materials are appropriate for individuals who have already passed the first and second years of university. Electronic resources were also found to have a higher readability level than printed ones. Conclusion: Since most of the published materials are suitable for people with higher education and written with a language beyond public’s health literacy, health information providers are strongly advised to prepare simple education materials understandable for all people in the society.

Keywords

• readability
• patient education
• diabetic patients
• health literacy