Abstract
I was heartened to see an article evaluating the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ patient information leaflets using quantitative and qualitative methods.[1][1] The provision of information is critical to my clinical practice and has often involved these very leaflets. I was also pleased that the
Highlights
Despite these potential improvements and confusions, the conclusion remains undoubtedly true that ‘reader feedback provides invaluable guidance about the substance and presentation of our public mental health information.’ One can only hope that we continue to strive to produce information which is accessible to those who need it
The complexity of language can be assessed using a range of readability measures such as Flesch Reading Ease (FRE; a document should have a score of greater than 60, the higher the score the easier it is to read) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL; refers to US school grades, so lower scores indicate better readability - a 13 year old should understand a document scoring 7)
These are widely available, contained within word processing packages, and have been used to evaluate patient information leaflets in other specialties[1] and standard appointment letters in child and adolescent mental health services.[2]. When these measures are applied to the College leaflets (Table 3 in the paper), the mean FRE is 7.81 (7.1-8.4) and mean FKGL 63.13 (58.7-69.8)
Summary
Despite these potential improvements and confusions, the conclusion remains undoubtedly true that ‘reader feedback provides invaluable guidance about the substance and presentation of our public mental health information.’ One can only hope that we continue to strive to produce information which is accessible to those who need it. I was heartened to see an article evaluating the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ patient information leaflets using quantitative and qualitative methods.[1] The provision of information is critical to my clinical practice and has often involved these very leaflets.
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