Evaluation of the Reading Level of Commonly Used Medication-Related Patient Education Sources
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2020
Description
Introduction: To improve comprehension of medical care, the Joint Commission recommends that patient education materials (PEMS) be written at a fifth-grade reading level or below. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the compliance of commonly used tertiary drug references to Joint Commission standards. Methods: PEMs for the top 100 most prescribed medications in 2017 were obtained from commonly used drug information tertiary references (Lexi-comp patient drug information, Micromedex Care Notes, Micromedex Med Essential Fact Sheets, Medline Plus, and Drugs.com) to evaluate readability. The grade reading level of each medication-related PEM was evaluated using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level test and compared with a one-way analysis of variance using correlated samples and Tukey's post-hoc test for significance between groups. Results: The mean grade reading levels of Lexi-comp, Micromedex Care Notes, Micromedex Med Essential Fact Sheets, Medline Plus, and Drugs.com were 4.2, 7.5, 7.8, 9.3, and 10.4, respectively. Lexi-comp achieved a reading level at or below fifth grade for 99% of medications while Micromedex Med Essential Fact sheets was the next highest at 33%. No other reference contained drug information at or below a fifth-grade reading level. Conclusion: Lexi-comp patient drug information consistently met the Joint Commission recommendation for medical information at or below a fifth-grade reading level, whereas Micromedex Med Essential Fact Sheets met this recommendation approximately one-third of the time. When providing drug information resources to patients, health-care providers should be diligent in selecting sources that meet the Joint Commission recommendations.
Citation Information
Perez, Emily J.; Covert, Kelly; and Lewis, Paul O., "Evaluation of the Reading Level of Commonly Used Medication-Related Patient Education Sources" (2020). ETSU Faculty Works. 502.
https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works-2/502