The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7316 p339
11 September 2004

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Patient information on the internet is too complicated

Websites giving information for diabetes patients are too complicated for most people.

One of the most difficult to understand is NHS Direct, which demands a reading age of 16.8 years. The UK average reading age is nine years.

Dr Maged Boulos, of the University of Bath’s School for Health, looked at 15 internet websites (PDF 130K) and found that the easiest to understand included one aimed primarily at health professionals (NHS Prodigy) and the BMJ Publishing Group “Best treatments” site.

Dr Boulos said: “Public and patient health information that is difficult to understand or liable to misunderstanding by the lay consumer could result in serious consequences.”