Análisis de la calidad de los documentos informativos destinados a pacientes con cáncer

Abstract

Objective To determine the quality of information written for patients and their families and distributed in the public hospitals of Andalusia, and to make a series of recommendations on the drafting of information leaflets for patients with cancer. Material and method Informative documents on cancer distributed among patients and their families in the hospitals of the Andalusian public health system were gathered. A preliminary reading and content analysis was carried out and three relevant documents were chosen, which were subsequently evaluated by a group of experts using a quantitative method. Results Wide disparity was observed among the various hospitals in the way information was handled, both in the number of leaflets available and in their type. Although the documents’ contents were highly similar, the method used allowed us to select three representative documents according to the characteristics of the type of language employed, contents, and length. Significant differences were found among the three documents in the type of language used and their contents. Conclusions Given the deficiencies observed in the documents analyzed, we consider that informative documents should be analyzed before the final version is drawn up and distributed. Based on the textual analysis carried out, a decalogue was made to aid the writing of information sheets on cancer aimed at a wide spectrum of the population.