7896 Can patients read the information we give to them? A single-centre study of the readability of general paediatric patient information leaflets
Published Date: 30th May 2025
Publication Authors: Thomas. E
Why did you do this work? Patient information leaflets (PILs) are one of the most widely used sources of healthcare information for patients and their carers.1 Despite this, previous research has shown that up to half of adults in the United Kingdom lack the necessary literacy skills to comprehend routine health information, with average reading abilities equivalent to what is expected of an 11 to 14 year-old (6 to 9 years of education).2 3 Consequently, guidelines recommend that PILs be written at a level appropriate for 9 to 11 year-olds (4 to 6 years of education).4 This study aimed to assess the readability of general paediatric patient information leaflets and evaluate their accessibility to the intended audience.
What did you do? All published PILs on general paediatric conditions from a tertiary NHS teaching trust were reviewed. The title, hospital contact details and version control were excluded from the analysed data. An online calculator was used to individually analyse the text from each PIL.5 Three tests of readability were produced. The Gunning Fox Index (GFI) and Simple Measure Of Gobbledygook (SMOG) estimated the number of years of education needed to understand the text. The Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) index provided an indication of how difficult it was to understand on a scale between 0 (most difficult) and 100 (easiest). Linguistic complexity, word and character count were also analysed.
What did you find? 41 PILs were identified with mean (SD) characters and words of 3818.05 (1519.29) and 815.41 (320.06) respectively. GFI scores ranged from 8.67-14.35 and had a mean (SD) of 11.67 (1.49). SMOG scores ranged from 9.44-13.63 and had a mean (SD) of 11.56 (1.09). The mean (SD) FRE index was 53.16 (5.80). No PILs were written specifically to be read by young children or had an ‘easy read’ version.
What does it mean? All PILs were graded above the average UK reading age and none of them were specifically targeted at children, despite many of the conditions affecting older children and adolescents. Authors must consider both readability and the target audience when drafting PILs. An improvement project will be undertaken within the centre to ensure the PILs are accessible to all readers.
Thomas, E.; Bennet, J. (2025). 7896 Can patients read the information we give to them? A single-centre study of the readability of general paediatric. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 110(Suppl. 1), pp.A417-A418. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2025-rcpch.563 [Accessed 24 September 2025].
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