Do hospital consent forms for cardiology procedures meet health literacy standards? Evaluation of understandability and readability

Ruwani Peiris; Samuel Cornell; Kim Greaves; Carissa Bonner

doi:10.1016/j.pec.2021.08.027

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Do hospital consent forms for cardiology procedures meet health literacy standards? Evaluation of understandability and readability

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Do hospital consent forms for cardiology procedures meet health literacy standards? Evaluation of understandability and readability

Ruwani Peiris, Samuel Cornell, Kim Greaves and Carissa Bonner

Patient Education and Counseling, Vol.105(5), pp.1254-1260

2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.08.027

PMID: 34579996

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Abstract

cardiology

health literacy

informed consent

patient-centered care

shared decision making

Objectives: Consent forms that are difficult to understand may jeopardize informed consent. The aim of this study was to determine whether consent documents for cardiology-related procedures could be easily read and understood by patients with low health literacy. Methods: All 37 cardiology-related consent forms with patient information material were retrieved from a publicly available suite of documents from one state in Australia. Two raters independently assessed documents and resolved discrepancies through discussion. Understandability was assessed using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Printed materials (PEMAT-P). Readability was assessed using the Gunning Fog Index, SMOG and Flesch Reading Ease formulas. Images were assessed using the 5C Image checklist. Results were analyzed descriptively. Results: Only 1 of 37 forms met the general PEMAT-P threshold (70%) for being 'understandable'. The average readability score was high, requiring a grade 10-12 level of education to understand. Most images lacked useful captions, had low visual clarity, and were not purpose-designed for the material. Conclusions: The current format for cardiology consent forms does not meet recommended standards for understandability and readability. Practice implications: Development of consent forms would benefit from taking health literacy principles into account with patient input, and purpose-designed images should be included in all forms to reinforce text.

Details

Title: Do hospital consent forms for cardiology procedures meet health literacy standards? Evaluation of understandability and readability
Authors: Ruwani Peiris (Author) - The University of Sydney
Samuel Cornell (Author) - The University of Sydney
Kim Greaves (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Carissa Bonner (Corresponding Author) - Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Publication details: Patient Education and Counseling, Vol.105(5), pp.1254-1260
Publisher: Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
Date published: 2022
DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2021.08.027
ISSN: 1873-5134
PMID: 34579996
Organisation Unit: Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99584805102621
Output Type: Journal article

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