Evaluation of written patient educational materials in the field of diagnostic imaging

Abstract

Aim To evaluate the quality of written educational materials for diagnostic imaging (radiological and nuclear medicine) patients. Materials and methods Written educational materials ( n = 70) for diagnostic imaging patients were analysed. The materials were evaluated based on their external appearance (9 criteria), instructiveness (7), content (7), language and structure (8) and readability (1). Deductive content analysis was used. Quantified parts of the analyses were analysed by SAS for Windows. Dependence between criteria (32) was tested by Pearson correlation coefficients. Results The external appearance fulfilled almost completely the criteria of good written education materials. The instructiveness was addressed clearly, except for the purpose of the material. The contents of materials dealt with bio-physiological, functional and cognitive dimensions of knowledge, while financial dimensions of knowledge were hardly dealt with at all. The language and the structure were reasonably good, but the language was partly in passive voice and the text contained strange words. Most of the education material was moderately easy to read. Conclusions The results show that the quality of material was quite good in all dimensions. Only a small number of criteria were unsatisfactory. The results can be used to further improve written patient education materials and patient education in the imaging unit.