Mortenson, Jeffrey
(2018)
Readability and suitability of health educational material provided at outpatient visits at a large tertiary care children's hospital.
Master Essay, University of Pittsburgh.
Abstract
When leaving an outpatient clinic appointment, patients typically have unacceptably low understanding of their diagnosis, their prognosis, and their treatment plan. This inevitably leads to non-adherence with prescribed therapy and excess morbidity and mortality at the population level. This fact is of public health significance, as it represents a potential point of intervention to improve health outcomes across the entire population.
In this paper I discuss the current status of health education materials in the United States, with a particular focus on pediatrics. I also discuss how health education materials can be evaluated and improved by clinicians and researchers that are so inclined. Finally, I performed a survey of materials that are provided by outpatient clinics at a large tertiary care children’s hospital, taking into account the grade level at which the materials were written (using the SMOG formula) as well as their overall suitability as measured by SAM analysis.
Overall, the materials had an average grade level of 10.38 (s.d. = 2.39), which is significantly higher than would be appropriate for the general population. 70% were labeled as “adequate” by the SAM rubric. American Academy of Pediatrics materials performed particularly well, achieving an average grade level of 8.1 (s.d. = 1.53) and a perfect 100% “adequate” score by the SAM rubric.
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Details
| Item Type: |
Other Thesis, Dissertation, or Long Paper
(Master Essay)
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| Contributors: |
| Contribution | Contributors Name | Email | Pitt Username | ORCID  |
|---|
| Committee Chair | Finegold, David | dnf@pitt.edu | UNSPECIFIED | UNSPECIFIED | | Committee Member | Elias, Thistle | elias@pitt.edu | UNSPECIFIED | UNSPECIFIED |
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| Date: |
9 August 2018 |
| Date Type: |
Submission |
| Submission Date: |
3 June 2018 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
82 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Public Health > Multidisciplinary MPH |
| Degree: |
MPH - Master of Public Health |
| Thesis Type: |
Master Essay |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Health Literacy |
| Date Deposited: |
27 Sep 2018 13:57 |
| Last Modified: |
27 Sep 2018 13:57 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/34589 |
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