Patient education pamphlets about prevention, detection, and treatment of breast cancer for low literacy women

The objective of this project was to identify and assess readily available patient education literature about prevention, detection and treatment of breast cancer for the patient with low literacy skills. The target population had a reading comprehension level of sixth grade or lower. Nineteen pamphlets were analyzed using RightWriter and were found to have an average readability index of 9.15, therefore requiring at least a ninth grade level of reading comprehension. As a consequence, many pieces of the available literature were inappropriate for the target population. There are implications as a broader group of health care providers becomes more involved in the treatment of low literacy patients. In providing patient education literature to poorly educated patients, special emphasis should be given to determining readability. Both currently available and newly created literature should be analyzed for readability before assuming it is an aid to patient education.