Jacob B Mirsky1, Lina Tieu2, Courtney Lyles2, Urmimala Sarkar3. 1. University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. 2. Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine and UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at San Francisco General Hospital. 3. Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine and UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at San Francisco General Hospital usarkar@medsfgh.ucsf.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The high prevalence of limited health literacy among patients threatens the success of secure electronic messaging between patients from diverse populations and their providers. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to generate hypotheses about the readability of patient and provider electronic messages. METHODS: We collected 31 patient-provider e-mail exchanges (n = 119 total messages) from a safety-net primary care clinic. We compared the messages' mean word count and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Levels (FKGLs), calculated the frequency of provider messages below an FKGL = 8, and assessed readability concordance between patients' and providers' messages. RESULTS: Patients used more words in their initial e-mails compared to providers, but the FKGLs were similar, and 68% of provider messages were written below an FKGL = 8. Of 31 exchanges, 9 (29%) contained at least one patient message with an FKGL > 3 grade levels lower than the corresponding provider message(s). CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that most providers are able to respond to patient electronic messages with a matching reading level.
BACKGROUND: The high prevalence of limited health literacy among patients threatens the success of secure electronic messaging between patients from diverse populations and their providers. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to generate hypotheses about the readability of patient and provider electronic messages. METHODS: We collected 31 patient-provider e-mail exchanges (n = 119 total messages) from a safety-net primary care clinic. We compared the messages' mean word count and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Levels (FKGLs), calculated the frequency of provider messages below an FKGL = 8, and assessed readability concordance between patients' and providers' messages. RESULTS:Patients used more words in their initial e-mails compared to providers, but the FKGLs were similar, and 68% of provider messages were written below an FKGL = 8. Of 31 exchanges, 9 (29%) contained at least one patient message with an FKGL > 3 grade levels lower than the corresponding provider message(s). CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that most providers are able to respond to patient electronic messages with a matching reading level.
Authors: Patricia H Strachan; Sonya de Laat; Sandra L Carroll; Lisa Schwartz; Katie Vaandering; Gurjit K Toor; Heather M Arthur Journal: J Cardiovasc Nurs Date: 2012 Nov-Dec Impact factor: 2.083
Authors: Stephanie L Shimada; Beth Ann Petrakis; James A Rothendler; Maryan Zirkle; Shibei Zhao; Hua Feng; Gemmae M Fix; Mustafa Ozkaynak; Tracey Martin; Sharon A Johnson; Bengisu Tulu; Howard S Gordon; Steven R Simon; Susan S Woods Journal: J Am Med Inform Assoc Date: 2017-09-01 Impact factor: 4.497