197813 Barriers to Oral Health Education: The Readability of Oral Health Literature for Lay Populations

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Waletha Wasson, DDS, MPA, MS , Department of Endodontics and Operative Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry, Memphis, TN
Mark Scarbecz, PhD , Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Oral Health, University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry, Memphis, TN
Mary Aubertin, DDS, MS , Department of Biologic and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry, Memphis, TN
Maurice Lewis, DDS , Department of Edodontics and Operative Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry, Memphis, TN
Judith Ross, DMD, MS , Department of Endodontics and Operative Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry, Memphis, TN
Marjorie Woods, DDS , Department of Biologic and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry, Memphis, TN
Van Himel, DDS, MS , Department of Endodontics and Operative Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry, Memphis, TN
One mechanism to prevent oral disease is to provide informational literature on oral health topics. This study assessed the reading grade level (RGL) of informational oral health literature, and estimated the proportion of adults in a metropolitan area who may be unable to comprehend the material, based on Census data on attained levels of education.

The RGL of twenty three oral-health information documents was assessed by three independent raters using the Fry Readability Formula. Inter-rater reliability ranged from .81 to .98. Four documents had an RGL of “College”; seven had an RGL of “high school.” Ten documents had an RGL of grade seven or less.

Based on census data on grade level attained in the study population, more than 50% of the population had levels of education less than college. Ten percent of the population had a level of education less than 10th grade and approximately two percent of the population had less than a fifth grade education. The CDC recommends an RGL of six to seventh grade for health-information documents. This study found a significant disjuncture between the readability of oral-health information documents and the potential ability of the target population to understand the material.

Learning Objectives:
Describe mechanisms for assessing the reading level of dental public health material

Keywords: Oral Health, Health Literacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am involved in research activities related to readability of printed material, cultural competence, women's issues in dentistry, students aspirations in dentistry, and evidence-based dentistry.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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