Abstract
Using foreign written materials in Iran's healthcare industry is very common, but it seems that there is a significant difference between the difficulty level of original texts and their corresponding translations. This study compares the readability level of English medical texts and their corresponding Persian translations. In this study, 50 translated booklets and their corresponding texts in English were assessed – all these booklets are translated versions of BMA publications and kept in Iran's National Library. Comparisons of these texts were made using Gunning Fog Index and SMOG Readability Index Grade. Then, significant difference between the data obtained from English medical texts and their Persian translations were made. A significant difference was observed between the number of multi-syllables words and readability scores in English medical texts and their corresponding Persian texts, but no significant difference was observed between the number of words and sentences in these two groups. Therefore, it is necessary to omit needless words, use fewer complex (multi-syllabuses) words, and use shorter sentences.
Highlights
Written texts and translated texts are powerful tools for developing knowledge, science and technology
6 paragraphs are selected from each translated booklet and required data are obtained from these translated texts and their corresponding English text. These data are compared via Gunning Fog Index and SMOG Readability Index Grade to get readability scores
The main objective of this study is to find out whether there is a significant difference between data obtained of two groups involved in the sample of the study
Summary
Written texts and translated texts are powerful tools for developing knowledge, science and technology. The readability of written text and translated texts plays a very important role in transferring data. Because Healthcare Industry is paramount to any nation’s economy and a vibrant healthcare industry ensures a healthy nation, and ensures a flourishing lifestyle for its citizens, it is vital to adopt simple modes of communications between healthcare professionals and their patients. One such way to improve communications in healthcare is by using readability formulas on documents as a means to communicate effectively with staff, patients, and healthcare suppliers. Translations of such texts should be readable and share same features as the original ones
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