Readability assessment of online men's health education materials from the sexual medicine society of north america, urology care foundation, and european association of urology

Abstract Introduction The use of online health information by patients has gained considerable attention during the last decade. With this attention has come exponential adoption towards online resources. Existing literature has shown that a significant majority of patient education materials (PEM) available online exceed the literacy and comprehension of the audience reading them. The National Institute of Health (NIH) and American Medical Association (AMA) advocate the dissemination of accessible and readable resources targeted towards a fifth to seventh grade reading level. As the rise of mens health and sexual health continues to grow, understanding what resources may currently exist and how they meet or fail to meet patients needs is of growing concern. Objective We aimed to evaluate the readability of online patient resources from the Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA), American Urological Association and European Urological Association websites. Methods Content published under the web-section “SMSNA: For Patients - conditions and topics” portal (n=16) were reviewed. Identical topics published online via Urology Care Foundation (ie AUA; n=8) and the European Association of Urology (ie EAU; n=8) were also reviewed. Readability and estimated educational level required for understanding was assessed using validated readability and English language assessment tools including the Flesh Reading Ease score, Flesch Kincade, Gunning Fog, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), Coleman-Liau and Automated Readability index. Results SMSNA online patient education materials (PEM), on average, are written at a college sophomore reading level (14th grade). This is 6.5 and 8 grade levels higher than the average U.S. adult and recommended reading levels for PEM, respectively. Comparable AUA and EAU resources were an average of 10th (p<0.05) and 12th (p=0.854) grade reading levels, respectively. Conclusions Men’s sexual health PEM’s published online are written at an advanced reading level, most notably the SMSNA compared to equivalent professional sources. This could pose a barrier to patient understanding and impact patients’ engagement and health decision-making. One proposed mitigatory strategy is for PEM to provide improved readability, and appropriate user-friendly language to facilitate easier and inclusive understanding, outreach and educational support. Disclosure No