Prenatal literature testing: a pilot project.

A pilot study was conducted in 1987-1988 to evaluate current health literature utilized for prenatal health education of the high risk population in County Health Departments in Arizona. Towards that end, sixty-five distinct pamphlets were obtained from Arizona's County Health Departments and assessed for reading level using the SMOG Readability Formula. The majority of the prenatal literature were found to be 10th to 12th grade reading level, higher than the typical reading level of the high risk prenatal population. A modified literature testing instrument was further utilized to test eight general prenatal pamphlets to assess the printed literature for accuracy, usability, believability, appeal, and cultural relevance. Four pamphlets of those tested, two English and two Spanish, were identified as being the most appropriate for the high risk prenatal population.