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The work considers formal structure and features of the readability indices widely employed in various information and education fields, including theory of communication, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and multiple applications. In spite of the importance and popularity of readability indices in practical research, their intrinsic properties have not yet been sufficiently investigated. This paper aims to fill this gap between the theory and application of these indices by presenting them in a uniform expression which permits analyzing their features and deriving new properties that are useful in practice. Three theorems are proved for relations between the units of a text structure. The general characteristics are illustrated by numerical examples which can be helpful for researchers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Text readability metrics assess how much effort a reader must put into comprehending a given text. They are, e.g., used to choose appropriate readings for different student proficiency levels, or to make sure that crucial information is efficiently conveyed (e.g., in an emergency). Flesch Reading Ease is such a globally used formula that it is even integrated into the MS Word Processor. However, its constants are language-dependent. The original formula was created for English. So far it has been adapted to several European languages, Bangla, and Hindi. This paper describes the Czech adaptation, with the language-dependent constants optimized by a machine-learning algorithm working on parallel corpora of Czech and English, Russian, Italian, and French, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the pharmaceutical industry, there is an abundance of regulatory documents used to understand the current regulatory landscape and proactively make project decisions. Due to the size of these documents, it is helpful for project teams to have informative summaries. We propose a novel solution, MedicoVerse, to summarize such documents using advanced machine learning techniques. MedicoVerse uses a multi-stage approach, combining word embeddings using the SapBERT model on regulatory documents. These embeddings are put through a critical hierarchical agglomerative clustering step, and the clusters are organized through a custom data structure. Each cluster is summarized using the bart-large-cnn-samsum model, and each summary is merged to create a comprehensive summary of the original document. We compare MedicoVerse results with established models T5, Google Pegasus, Facebook BART, and large language models such as Mixtral 8 × 7b instruct, GPT 3.5, and Llama-2-70b by introducing a scoring system that considers four factors: ROUGE score, BERTScore, business entities and the Flesch Reading Ease. Our results show that MedicoVerse outperforms the compared models, thus producing informative summaries of large regulatory documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the readability of texts has become the focus of reading research because it is believed to have implications for reading comprehension, which is of utmost importance in the field of English as a foreign language (EFL), particularly in the teaching, learning and assessment of reading comprehension. Unfortunately, the influence of text readability on reading comprehension (and reading time) has not been well studied in the EFL context. Most text readability studies are conducted in medical contexts, but these studies are often limited in predicting readability scores for sample texts. To address this gap, the current study aimed to evaluate the influence of text readability levels (based on the Flesch-Kincaid grade level (FKGL)) on students' reading comprehension and reading time. Data were collected through reading test and analyzed using SPSS version 22. The Friedman test revealed that the distribution of students' reading comprehension score (X2=197.532, p=0.000) and reading time (X2=215.323, p=0.000) are different in each text, suggesting that the readability of texts has a significant influence on both. This study contributed to the practices of reading instruction and assessment. Limitations and suggestions for further research are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of a study that investigated the readability of three Accounting textbooks used in South African secondary schools are presented. In South African schools, textbooks remain the primary source of course content that drives the students' learning of the subject matter. The study followed the traditions of the positivist paradigm. The Flesch reading ease score and Gunning fog index are readability measurement methods that are helpful in measuring the difficulty or challenging nature of text in the Accounting textbooks. Using them assists teachers of Accounting who have the responsibility to choose textbooks that would assist their students to make meaning of the subject matter. Three sections from each textbook were analysed: an introduction section on budgeting, analysis and interpretation section, and section on General Accepted Accounting Principles. These topics are very important in understanding the discipline of Accounting; their readability or accessibility by students play a crucial role in learning the subject of Accounting. The results showed that some textbooks are not readable, or are not straightforward and user friendly, and are thus difficult to understand and engage with. This points to these textbooks being challenging to some Accounting students, especially since to some English is their second language. The recommendations for future research are discussed. It is suggested that authors of Accounting textbooks must consider the readability of the textbooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health literacy impacts health outcomes. Health literacy is a measure of a person's competence to find, access, contextualize, and understand the information needed to make health decisions. Low levels of health literacy have been associated with poor health status. Health literacy can be enhanced by improving the readability of health literature. Misuse and abuse of prescription medicines and controlled substances is rising. It could be argued that improving the readability of the drug-information documents associated with these medicines could serve to alleviate this situation in a small, albeit incremental, manner. This paper provides a readability assessment of 71 such documents. Methods: The readability of drug-information documents associated with 12 commonly misused and abused painkiller medicines and controlled substances published by the top six US pharmacies was assessed. The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Flesch Reading Ease, and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) indices were used to assess the readability of these drug-information documents. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the readability of the documents. Results: The average Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level index score was found to be 11.16. The average Flesch Reading Ease index score was found to be 45.94. The average SMOG index score was found to be 13.60. Pharmacies C and E had the best average readability scores, whereas pharmacies A and B had the worst average readability scores. Conclusion: Access, contents, and formatting of the documents were qualitatively analyzed to make recommendations to improve readability. Pharmacies C and E were used as benchmarks to identify the seven best practices. Good drug-information documents should have: (1) clear purpose, (2) limited scope, (3) summary/brief review, (4) well-placed graphics, (5) informative illustrations, (6) clean layout and lucid formatting relevant to the media, and (7) focus on the intended users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescents and young adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) transitioning from pediatric to adult health care face a high-risk period associated with increased use of acute health care services and mortality. Although 59% of American citizens report using the internet for health care information, the quality of web-based, patient-facing resources regarding transition in SCD care has not been evaluated. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the quality and readability of web-based health information on SCD, especially as it pertains to the transition to adulthood for inidividuals with SCD. The study also compared the readability and content scores of websites identified in 2018 to those from 2021 to assess any change in quality over time. Methods: Keywords representing phrases adolescents may use while searching for information on the internet regarding transition in SCD care, including "hydroxyurea" and "SCD transition," were identified. A web-based search using the keywords was conducted in July 2021 using Google, Yahoo, and Bing. The top 20 links from each search were collected. Duplicate websites, academic journals, and websites not related to SCD health care transition were excluded. Websites were categorized based on the source: health department, hospital or private clinician, professional society, and other websites. Websites were assessed using Health On the Net Foundation code of conduct (HONcode), Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FGL), Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP), and a novel SCD content checklist (SCDCC). EQIP and SCDCC scores range from 0- to 100. Each website was reviewed by 2 research assistants and assessed for interrater reliability. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results: Of the 900 websites collected, 67 (7.4%) met the inclusion criteria: 13 health department, 7 hospital or private clinician, 33 professional society, and 14 other websites. A total of 15 (22%) out of 67 websites had HONcode certification. Websites with HONcode certification had higher FRE and EQIP scores and lower FGL scores than those without HONcode certification, reflecting greater readability. Websites without HONcode certification had higher SCDCC scores, reflecting greater clinical content. Only 7 (10%) websites met the National Institutes of Health recommendation of a seventh-grade or lower reading level. Based on EQIP scores, 6 (9%) websites were of high quality. The mean SCDCC score was 20.60 (SD 22.14) out of 100. The interrater reliability for EQIP and SCDCC ratings was good (intraclass correlation: 0.718 and 0.897, respectively). No source of website scored significantly higher mean EQIP, FRE, FGL, or SCDCC scores than the others (all P<.05). Conclusions: Although seeking health care information on the web is very common, the overall quality of information about transition in SCD care on the internet is poor. Changes to current web-based health care information regarding SCD care transitions would benefit transitioning youth by providing expectations, knowledge, skills, and tools to increase self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the readability and quality of online materials for Zenker's diverticulum. A Google search of "Zenker's diverticulum" was performed and the first 50 websites were reviewed. Readability was measured by Flesch Reading Ease (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) scores using an online calculator. Understandability and actionability were assessed with the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Printed Materials (PEMAT-P). Websites were categorized as either patient-targeted or physician-targeted and unpaired t tests were used to compare scores between these two groups. A total of 31 websites (23 patient-oriented sites and 8 physician-oriented sites) were analyzed. The average FRES, FKGL, and SMOG scores were 29.96 ± 14.72, 13.75 ± 2.78, and 12.19 ± 2.02, respectively, for the entire cohort. Readability scores for the patient-oriented sites were better than the physician-oriented sites for each measure (FRES 36.21 ± 8.86 vs 11.96 ± 13.54, FKGL 12.68 ± 1.58 vs 16.85 ± 3.25, and SMOG 11.37 ± 1.26 vs 14.53 ± 1.98; p < 0.001 for all comparisons). PEMAT-P understandability and actionability scores for the entire cohort were 68.20% ± 10.19% and 10.75% ± 16.52% respectively, and did not differ between patient-oriented and physician oriented sites. Though patient-oriented sites had better readability than physician-oriented sites for Zenker's Diverticulum, both categories had readability levels more advanced than what is recommended for medical education materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work considers formal structure and features of the readability indices widely employed in various information and education fields, including theory of communication, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and multiple applications. In spite of the importance and popularity of readability indices in practical research, their intrinsic properties have not yet been sufficiently investigated. This paper aims to fill this gap between the theory and application of these indices by presenting them in a uniform expression which permits analyzing their features and deriving new properties that are useful in practice. Three theorems are proved for relations between the units of a text structure. The general characteristics are illustrated by numerical examples which can be helpful for researchers and practitioners.

The article presents the results of the analysis aimed at quantitative (word length and sentence length) and qualitative (narrativity, syntactic simplicity, word concreteness, referential cohesion and deep cohesion) characteristics used in Flesh Reading Ease and Coh-Metrix to determine complexity/simplicity of FCE and EGE examination texts corresponding to B2 level by Common European Framework of References. The data used in the research include18 examination texts of three language tests analogous in structure and content: in Russian (Test of Russian as a Foreign Language) and in English (Unified (Russia) State Examination in English (EGE) and First Certificate Examination (FCE)). Flesch Reading Ease indices of all the Russian texts analyzed testify to their higher level of complexity than the announced in the corresponding papers (B2). The English texts correspond to the Level B2 by CEFR. The computerized with Coh-Metrix texts utilized in EGE and FCE prove to belong to B2 level, though the EGE texts demonstrate on average higher than FCE texts levels of concreteness but lower levels of syntactic simplicity. Maintaining approximately equal levels of concreteness EGE and FCE texts obtain about the same levels of complexity (B2) due to the differences in the number of verbalized local and global content links. Thus, the Russian test developers model the authentic English texts for examination purposes eliminating the connectives and verbalizing referential and deep cohesion.