Selection and validation of a measurement instrument for readability calculations in patient information leaflets for oncological patients in Spain

Authors

  • José Luis Martí Ferriol Universitat Jaume I

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jrds.30604

Keywords:

patient information leaflets, readability indices, Spanish language

Abstract

This article presents some findings which deal with text readability, obtained in a research project sponsored by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad . The main objective of the project was to improve the quality of written texts used to convey information to oncological patients in hospitals in Spain. Among other measurement instruments, it was proposed to use some readability index which allowed to detect the quality of the original texts considered (written in Spanish), and which additionally enabled the evaluation of the improvement in readability achieved as a consequence of the research. Literature review on readability indices, for the case of Spanish language, indicated three possible candidates. Statistical analysis guided the selection and validation processes carried out for the indices in the case of patient information leaflets addressed to oncological patients in two Spanish hospitals

Author Biography

  • José Luis Martí Ferriol, Universitat Jaume I

    José Luis Martí Ferriol is a full-time lecturer at Universitat Jaume I, Castelló (Spain), where he teaches audiovisual, scientific and medical translation, both at Grade and Master level. He is author of the books Cine independiente y Traducción (Valencia, Tirant Lo Blanch, 2010), and El método de traducción: doblaje y subtitulación frente a frente (Castellón, Servei de Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I, 2013), as well as of several articles in national and international magazines, mainly related to audiovisual translation.

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Published

2016-12-30

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Martí Ferriol, J. L. (2016). Selection and validation of a measurement instrument for readability calculations in patient information leaflets for oncological patients in Spain. Journal of Research Design and Statistics in Linguistics and Communication Science, 3(1), 110-125. https://doi.org/10.1558/jrds.30604

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