A readability analysis of patient education materials about chronic venous disease provided by professional vascular societies

BACKGROUND: Professional vascular societies and forums have disseminated patient information on education materials about chronic venous disease (CVD) via their official websites. While online patient education material is readily available with an Internet connection, its practical utility may be limited for patients with low health literacy. METHODS: Six readability measures were used to evaluate the patient education materials regarding CVD published by 12 professional medical societies. RESULTS: Patient education materials on CVD vary considerably in length among medical societies, and their comprehensibility points toward a difficult level. The mean readability score was 11.20, prominently above the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and American Medical Association (AMA) recommendations. CONCLUSION: Our analysis of patient education materials produced by 12 professional vascular societies and forums found that all materials exceeded the recommended readability levels. The innovative section "Information for patients'' in the ESVS CVD guidelines also exceeded these levels. Improving the readability of patient education materials is essential to meet patient health literacy standards and might improve patient outcomes in managing CVD.