Assessment of revised patient reported outcome measures for improved readability.

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Audiology
Degree name
Master of Audiology
Publisher
University of Canterbury
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
English
Date
2019
Authors
de Hamel, Roy
Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to revise the wording of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) until they fell within the recommended readability levels for health-related materials. The subsequent scores of the revised PROMs were then to be compared to the original versions of the PROMs in order to assess the effect of the revisions. The revised scores were also to be compared with a second copy of the revised version in order to assess the consistency of the results.

Method Three published PROMs were selected and were revised to within the recommended readability levels for health-related materials. The PROMs were revised until they met the recommended 6th reading grade level (RGL) according to the F-K readability formula. Three copies of the PROMs were distributed to participants in the United States of America in a random order (two revised versions and one original) and the results were compared.

Results The results revealed that there was a much larger difference between the original and revised versions than there was between the two copies of the revised versions. However, the results also revealed that the study was overpowered, preventing the results from being statistically conclusive.

Conclusion The results suggest that if PROMs are revised to within the recommended levels for health-related materials, then clients will give more clinically valid, consistent answers than what they do with the current versions. However, further research is required in order to corroborate these results.

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Citation
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Rights
All Rights Reserved