Pander Maat, H., & Lentz, L. (2010). Improving the usability of patient information leaflets. Patient Education and Counseling, 80(1), 113-119.

Pander Maat, H.; Lentz, L.

2010

Pander Maat, H., & Lentz, L. (2010). Improving the usability of patient information leaflets. Patient Education and Counseling, 80(1), 113-119.

geen

Objective This study assesses the usability of three patient information leaflets and attempts to improve them while complying with the current EU regulations.Methods Three original leaflets were tested among 154 potential users. Every participant answered 15 scenario questions for one of the leaflets. The leaflets were subsequently redesigned based on the test results and evidence-based Document Design principles. The revised texts were tested among 164 participants.Results All three original leaflets suffered from usability problems, especially problems related to finding relevant information. On average, only 75% of the topics could be located. Comprehension of the information, once found, was around 90%. The revisions led to better performance. Information was found faster and more successful. Comprehension scores were higher as well. A follow-up study shows that these findings can be generalized over paper formats.Conclusion Although the current EU regulations for patient information leaflets do not guarantee leaflet usability, the leaflets can be improved somewhat within the regulations. However, further research should evaluate the text structure currently imposed on leaflets.Practical implications Information leaflets must be written, or rewritten, according to Document Design principles. Furthermore, they must be user tested in a rigorous way.

We tested three patient information leaflets in order to find out whether readers could locate and comprehend relevant information. None of these documents achieved a success score of 80%, as is required by the European Guideline. We then revised the leaflets, drawing on the first test and on principles of Document Design. All three revisions resulted in increased localization, comprehension and appreciation, but one patient information leaflet still did not meet the 80% criterion. A follow-up study with one of the leaflets established that the revision gains are independent from the paper format used. On the short run, this work has two implications. Existing leaflets need to be tested in real performance tests (given that evaluations and performance levels do not correlate). And they need to be (re-)written according to basic evidence-based Document Design principles.

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