Readability Assessment of Online Uveitis Patient Education Materials

Abstract

<i>Purpose</i>: To evaluate the readability of online uveitis patient education materials. <i>Methods</i>: A Google search in November 2016 was completed using search term "uveitis" and "uveitis inflammation." The top 50 websites with patient-centered information were selected and analyzed for readability using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Gunning FOG Index (GFI), and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG). Statistical analysis was performed with two-tailed <i>t</i>-tests. <i>Results</i>: The mean word count of the top 50 websites was 1162.7 words, and averaged 16.2 words per sentence. For these websites, the mean FRES was 38.0 (range 4-66, SD = 12.0), mean FKGL was 12.3 (range 6.8-19, SD = 2.4), mean SMOG score was 14.4 (range 9.8-19, SD = 1.8), and the mean Gunning FOG index was 14.0 (range 8.6-19, SD = 2.0). <i>Conclusions</i>: The majority of online patient directed uveitis materials are at a higher reading level than that of the average American adult.