How readable are Australian paediatric oral health education materials?

BMC Oral Health

Mark Fort Harris¹  Loc Giang Do⁴  Zahra Karami³  Andy SF Lam³  Amit Arora² 

[1] Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Australia, Room 345, Level 3, AGSM Building, Gate 11, Botany Street, Randwick NSW 2052, Australia;Sydney and Sydney South West Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia;Faculty of Dentistry, University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia;Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

关键词: Leaflets;    Health communication;    Health literacy;    Oral health;    Dental caries;   

Others  :  1091931
DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6831-14-111

 received in 2014-05-21, accepted in 2014-08-29,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

The objective of this study was to analyse the readability of paediatric oral health education leaflets available in Australia.

Methods

Forty paediatric oral health education materials were analysed for general readability according to the following parameters: Thoroughness; Textual framework; Terminology; and Readability (Flesch-Kincaid grade level (FKGL), Gunning Fog index (Fog) and Simplified Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG)).

Results

Leaflets produced by the industry were among the hardest to read with an average readability at the 8th grade (8.4 ± 0.1). The readability of leaflets produced by the commercial sector was at the 7th grade (7.1 ± 1.7) and the government at the 6th grade (6.3 ± 1.9). The FKGL consistently yielded readabilities 2 grades below the Fog and SMOG indexes. In the content analyses, 14 essential paediatric oral health topics were noted and Early Childhood Caries (ECC) was identified as the most commonly used jargon term.

Conclusion

Paediatric oral health education materials are readily available, yet their quality and readability vary widely and may be difficult to read for disadvantaged populations in Australia. A redesign of these leaflets while taking literacy into consideration is suggested.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Arora et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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