Are plain-language summaries included in published reports of evidence about physiotherapy interventions? Analysis of 4421 randomised trials, systematic reviews and guidelines on the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro)

Flávia A Carvalho; Mark R Elkins; Márcia R Franco; Rafael Z Pinto

doi:10.1016/j.physio.2018.11.003

Are plain-language summaries included in published reports of evidence about physiotherapy interventions? Analysis of 4421 randomised trials, systematic reviews and guidelines on the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro)

Physiotherapy. 2019 Sep;105(3):354-361. doi: 10.1016/j.physio.2018.11.003. Epub 2018 Nov 15.

Authors

Flávia A Carvalho¹, Mark R Elkins², Márcia R Franco³, Rafael Z Pinto⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sao Paulo State University, Presidente Prudente, Brazil. Electronic address: fla.acarvalho@hotmail.com.
² Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Centre for Evidence-Based Physiotherapy, Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: mark.elkins@sydney.edu.au.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, Centro Universitário UNA, Contagem, Brazil. Electronic address: marciarfranco@gmail.com.
⁴ Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Electronic address: rafaelzp@ufmg.br.

PMID: 30876718
DOI: 10.1016/j.physio.2018.11.003

Abstract

Background: A plain-language summary is a short and clearly stated version of a study's results using non-scientific vocabulary that provide many advantages for patients and clinicians in the process of shared decision-making.

Objectives: The primary objective was to investigate the extent to which published reports of physiotherapy interventions provide plain-language summaries. We investigate as the secondary objectives if the available plain-language summaries are at a suitable reading level for a lay person and if inclusion of plain-language summaries in these reports is increasing over time and is associated with trial quality (i.e. PEDro score).

Data sources: All 4421 randomised controlled trials (RCT), systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines that included plain-language summaries indexed on Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) were included.

Main outcome measures: Proportion of published reports with plain-language summaries, Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL).

Results: The number of published reports with a plain-language summary doubled in the last 6 years. From a total of 34,444 reports indexed on PEDro, only 4421 reports had English plain-language summaries. RCTs with plain-language summaries had higher PEDro scores than RCTs without plain-language summaries (mean difference=0.8 points, 95%CI 0.7 to 0.8). Only 2% of reports were considered at a suitable reading level by the FKGL formula and 0.1% by the FRES formula.

Conclusions: Although the publication of plain-language summaries is increasing over time, the current number corresponds to only 13% of all published reports. In addition the majority of plain-language summaries are written at an advanced reading level.

Keywords: Health consumer; Health information; Physiotherapy; Readability; Summary report.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Comprehension
Consumer Behavior
Health Literacy*
Humans
Language
Physical Therapy Modalities*
Physical Therapy Specialty*
Practice Guidelines as Topic*
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic*
Systematic Reviews as Topic*