Evaluating the Readability of Online Patient Education Materials for Trigeminal Neuralgia

BACKGROUND: Patients, including patients with chronic pain conditions, increasingly turn to the Internet for health information. To facilitate comprehension, this information ought to be written at or below the 8th grade reading level, which is the average American adult's reading level. This study measured the reading level of popular online sources for trigeminal neuralgia. METHODS: The top 10 search results for the search term "trigeminal neuralgia" were selected for inclusion. Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning Fog Index, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, Coleman-Liau Index, Automated Readability Index, and Linsear Write Formula were used to assess readability. One-way analysis of variance was used to test for statistical differences in average readability scores among the different web pages. RESULTS: Across the web pages, the average readability scores were as follows: Flesch Reading Ease, 42.1 +/- 7.7; Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, 10.9 +/- 0.9; Gunning Fog Index, 15 +/- 1.5; Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, 10.9 +/- 1.2; Coleman-Liau Index, 12.1 +/- 1.3; Automated Readability Index, 11.9 +/- 1.4; Linsear Write Formula, 12.4 +/- 1.7. Results from one-way analysis of variance demonstrated no statistically significant difference in overall readability scores (F-12(,78) = 0.008; P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The writing of popular online education materials for trigeminal neuralgia is likely too complex for the average American adult to comprehend. This material should be revised to be readable at or below the 8th grade reading level. A variety of easily readable online education materials for trigeminal neuralgia can assist patients in understanding their illness and potentially improve patient decision making and outcomes.