699 - Navigating Bright Futures: Are Pediatric Handouts Easy to Understand?

Publication Number: 699.5845

Yusuke Matsuura, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States; Emily Myers, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States; Angela Armen, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States

Background: Well-child visits are essential for maintaining pediatric health, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) introduced the Bright Futures guidelines to standardize their management. One of the key components of these guidelines is the distribution of Bright Futures handouts to patients and their families. However, it remains unclear whether these handouts are appropriately tailored to meet the reading levels of the target pediatric audience.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the readability of the Bright Futures Patient handouts to assess if they are written at an appropriate level for the intended pediatric audience across different grade levels.

Design/Methods: We conducted a readability analysis of the Bright Futures Patient handouts, focusing on materials intended for specific pediatric age groups: 7-8 years, 9-10 years, 11-14 years, 15-17 years, and 18-21 years, totaling five handouts (handouts are available only for parents before age 7). The analysis employed the FebFX readability assessment tool, utilizing multiple widely recognized readability formulas: Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning Fog Score, SMOG Index, and Automated Readability Index. We analyzed only the handout content, excluding titles, headers, URLs, and other non-text elements.

Results: The readability scores across age-specific handouts are summarized in Table 1. Each score represents the estimated reading grade level of the content for the intended age group. In general, handouts for younger age groups were written at lower reading levels. Handouts designed for the 15-17 and 18-21 year visits generally aligned with the targeted reading levels, remaining below the 9th-grade level. While some readability formulas indicated that certain handouts might exceed the recommended literacy levels, most materials are consistent with age-appropriate expectations.

Conclusion(s): The Bright Futures Patient handouts generally align with the reading abilities of the intended pediatric age groups, suggesting that most children with age-appropriate reading skills can comprehend the materials. However, there is room for improvement to enhance accessibility further, as some literature suggests that a 5th-grade reading level could better accommodate individuals with reading challenges, such as dyslexia. Providing simplified verbal explanations during clinical encounters, in addition to the handouts, may further improve patient comprehension. Optimizing the readability of health information materials could strengthen understanding and adherence to pediatric care recommendations.

Table1: Readability Scores of Bright Futures Patient Handouts For Each Age Group
This table presents the readability scores of the Bright Futures Patient handouts for each pediatric age group, assessed using four readability formulas: Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning Fog Score, SMOG Index, and Automated Readability Index. The reading grade level equivalency for each age group visit is also indicated.