Purpose: Most patients diagnosed with cancer are administered systemic therapy and these patients are counselled and given printed education (PE) materials. High rates of low health literacy highlight the need to evaluate the quality of these PE materials.
Methods: A current state assessment of the quality of PE materials was conducted in Ontario, Canada. Patient education leaders from 14 cancer centres submitted print materials on the topic of systemic cancer therapy to the assessment team. To report adherence to PE quality and health literacy best practices, the following validated measures were used: readability (FRY, SMOG and Flesch Reading Ease), understandability and actionability (Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT)). Materials at grade level 6 or lower and with PEMAT scores greater than 80% were considered to meet health literacy best practices.
Results: A total of 1146 materials were submitted; 366 met inclusion criteria and 83 were selected for assessment. Most materials scored below the 80% target for understandability (x̄ = 73%, 31-100%) and actionability (x̄ = 68%, 20-100%), and above the recommended grade 6 readability level (x̄ = grade 9) meaning that the majority did not meet quality standards or best practices.
Conclusion: Results suggest that there is significant opportunity to improve the quality of PE materials distributed by cancer centres. The quality of PE materials is a critical safety and equity consideration when these materials convey important safety and self-care directives.
Keywords: Health literacy; Neoplasms; Patient education; Plain language; Systemic therapy.