Where Are We Now? The Patient and Society In this article, we explore the current state of health literacy and patient education materials (“Where are we now?”), the goals of patient education with regard to readability (“Where do we need to go?”), and potential solutions to enhance suitability of patient education materials (“How do we get there?”). However, most of the available patient education materials in orthopaedics are written at a reading level that does not meet these standards and may be too complex for comprehension by a substantial proportion of the population.
Several healthcare agencies have recommended readability of patient education materials should not be higher than sixth- to eighth-grade level. Readability, an important attribute of written material, can affect the reader’s ability to comprehend.
Providing health education through written materials is a time-tested method. Poor communication between physician and patients predisposes to medical malpractice cases, while effective communication lowers patient’s anxiety, improves compliance and clinical outcome. The healthcare cost of Medicaid patients with limited literacy is about four times that of those who have adequate health literacy. Poor health literacy is estimated to contribute more than 73 billion dollars of additional burden to the US healthcare system. Health literacy is defined as the “capacity to obtain, interpret, and understand basic health information and services and the competence to use such information and services to enhance health”. An individual’s health literacy is considered the single best predictor of their health status.
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