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Background: People are increasingly using the Internet to retrieve health information about chronic musculoskeletal conditions, yet content can be inaccurate and of variable quality. Objective: To summarise (i) comprehensiveness, (ii) accuracy and clarity, iii) quality of information about treatment choices, (iv) credibility and (v) readability of online information about knee osteoarthritis. Method: Systematic appraisal of website content. Searches for "knee osteoarthritis" and "knee arthritis" were performed using Google and Bing (October 2020). The top 20 URLs of each search were screened for eligibility. Comprehensiveness, accuracy and clarity of content were matched against 14 pre-defined topic descriptors. DISCERN and HONcode were used to measure quality of information about treatment choices and website credibility, respectively. Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level tests were used to assess readability. Results: Thirty-five websites were included. Websites were generally comprehensive (median, range = 12, 0–14/14) with descriptors available for 67% (n = 330/490) of topics across all websites, but only 35% (n = 116/330) were accurate and clear. Quality of information about treatment choices was generally low (median DISCERN score, range = 40, 16–56/80). Credibility descriptors were present for 65% (n = 181/280) of items, with 81% (n = 146/181) of descriptors being clear. Median Flesch reading ease was 53 (range = 21–74), and Flesch-Kincaid grade level was 8 (range = 5–11). Conclusion: Few websites provide accurate and clear content aligned to key research evidence. Quality of information about treatment choices was poor, with large variation in comprehensiveness, credibility and readability. Implications: Careful consideration is required by clinicians to identify what online information people with knee osteoarthritis have accessed and to address misinformed beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Previous research conducted by Williams et al. (2018) using data from the Autism Inpatient Collection (AIC) found a weak and inconsistent association between verbal ability and the severity of interfering behaviors; however, adapting/coping scores were significantly associated with self-injury, stereotypy, and irritability (including aggression and tantrums). The previous study did not account for access to or use of alternative forms of communication in their sample population. This study uses retrospective data to investigate the association between verbal ability and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) use and the presence of interfering behaviors in individuals with autism who have complex behavioral profiles. Method: The sample included 260 autistic inpatients, ages 4-20 years, from six psychiatric facilities, enrolled during the second phase of the AIC when detailed information about AAC use was collected. Measures included AAC use, method, and function; comprehension and production of language; receptive vocabulary; nonverbal IQ; severity of interfering behaviors; and the presence and severity of repetitive behaviors. Results: Lower language/communication abilities were related to increased repetitive behaviors and stereotypies. More specifically, these interfering behaviors appeared to be related to communication in those individuals who were candidates for AAC but who were not reported to have access to it. Although the use of AAC did not predict a decrease in interfering behaviors, receptive vocabulary scores--as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition--were positively correlated with the presence of interfering behaviors in participants with the most complex communication needs. Conclusions: The communication needs of some individuals with autism may be unmet, prompting the use of interfering behaviors as a form of communication. Further investigation of the functions of interfering behaviors and the related functions of communication skills may provide greater support for an increased focus on the provision of AAC to prevent and ameliorate interfering behaviors in individuals with autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Professional vascular societies and forums have disseminated patient information on education materials about chronic venous disease (CVD) via their official websites. While online patient education material is readily available with an Internet connection, its practical utility may be limited for patients with low health literacy. Methods: Six readability measures were used to evaluate the patient education materials regarding CVD published by 12 professional medical societies. Results: Patient education materials on CVD vary considerably in length among medical societies, and their comprehensibility points toward a difficult level. The mean readability score was 11.20, prominently above the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and American Medical Association (AMA) recommendations. Conclusion: Our analysis of patient education materials produced by 12 professional vascular societies and forums found that all materials exceeded the recommended readability levels. The innovative section "Information for patients'' in the ESVS CVD guidelines also exceeded these levels. Improving the readability of patient education materials is essential to meet patient health literacy standards and might improve patient outcomes in managing CVD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study seeks to evaluate the quality and readability of freely available online patient information resources for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Methods: Internet searches were performed for five DVT and PE search terms in July 2020 across three search engines and two metasearch engines. Qualitative content analysis was performed. Readability was assessed using four validated instruments. Results: Two hundred fifty websites were identified of which 62 websites met inclusion criteria. Website structure and content were satisfactory (>50% overall score), accountability was mixed between DVT (47%) and PE (56%) sites, while interactivity was poor (<30%). On qualitative content analysis, anticoagulation (95.2%) was the most discussed treatment while the most discussed procedures were IVC filter placement for DVT and thrombolysis for PE. Overall readability was difficult with median level suitable for ages 14–18 years. Conclusion: Freely available online DVT and PE patient information resources publish appropriate content but have very variable accountability and poor readability for the average patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study aimed to identify and analyse reading comprehension strategies used by five deaf adults, 22–47 years old, who were close to complete or had already completed their studies at a higher education institution. The method chosen was a partial replication of the one used by Banner and Wang (2011) in their think-aloud study to describe cognitive and metacognitive reading comprehension strategies use among deaf students and adults. The present study included similar interview questions and think-aloud procedures, which were conducted by a deaf teacher, native user of Chilean Sign Language (LSCh). Participants read informational texts and were interrupted three times during the reading task to answer questions about their cognitive and metacognitive processes. Results showed that these deaf adults can use strategies from all the categories identified by Pressley and Afflerbach (1995): constructing meaning, monitoring and improving comprehension, and evaluating comprehension. Some strategies described in the study from Banner and Wang were observed only in individual cases, and some of them were not used at all. The deaf participants of this study also used some strategies that were not included in some previous studies. Since very few deaf adults in Chile have completed higher education, the information provided by this study could be useful in guiding interventions aimed to improve reading comprehension in elementary, high school, and college DHH students. The relevance of early experiences with reading, and motivational factors associated to reading achievement are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess the quality and readability of online resources regarding postoperative pain control for patients having undergone total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA), along with identifying gaps among the types of information. Three search engines were used to conduct internet searches utilizing a combination of TSA and pain management search phrases. The top 20 web pages from each search engine were gathered, reviewed, and scored by five different evaluators. Scoring was performed using 30-point criteria, integrated into an overall quality of resource (QR) score considered significant for patient education about TSA and pain management according to American Pain Society and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' published recommendations (Table I). Domain scores (route of administration, type of analgesia, opioid-specific, and general guidance) were calculated by summing the total points and dividing by the total possible score for each domain. The reading level of the Flesch-Kinkaid grade level, the Flesch reading ease, and the simple measure of gobbledygook index was also assessed. The overall readability was low, with a mean Flesch-Kincaid grade level score of 10.3 ± 2.0 and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook score of 9.9 ± 1.5. According to this index, only one website (2.3%) was written below the suggested 6th grade reading level. There was a mean QR score of 9.6/30 points, ranging from 2 to 22 (Table II). Most resources (90.9%) did not achieve greater than 50% of the total available points (greater than 15 out of 30). Of the domains, the mean score for route of administration was 31.8%, types of analgesia was 43.6%, opioid-specific was 11.4%, and general guidance was 43.2%. Opioid-specific scores were lower than all three other domain scores (all P <.001). According to our findings, current online resources for pain management following TSA are written above the average literacy level for adults in the United States and lack educational content, especially regarding opioid-specific discussion and recommendations. Resources must target gaps in online patient education to better inform patients of postoperative pain control, convey expectations, and encourage patient-physician conversations and decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Electrónica de Psicología Iztacala is the property of Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the readability of online patient education resources on congenital hearing loss written in Turkish. Materials and Methods: We used Google Search to identify Patient Education Materials (PEM) for “congenital hearing loss”. A total of 50 websites were included initially, but after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 20 websites were analyzed. We divided these into two categories: Health Professionals and General Websites. The readability of the materials was calculated using the Ateşman readability formula. Results: The mean Ateşman readability score was 61.78±13.03. Health professional websites had a mean score of 68.69±9.8, while general websites had a mean score of 53.33±11.74. Health professionals websites were found to be easier to read than the General websites (P=0.009). There were 6 easy-level articles, all of which were from health professional websites. Four articles were of a hard level and all were general websites. The remaining 10 articles were of intermediate level. Conclusion: Although many online resources are available to provide information about congenital hearing loss, the readability level of these sources is above the easy-to-read level. To better serve parents and affected individuals, these resources should be revised to enhance their readability. Health professionals, in particular, have an opportunity to contribute more comprehensible materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the quality and readability of Turkish and English dental implant related websites. Material and Methods: An Internet search was done with search terms English "Dental Implant" and Turkish "Dental Implant" and a total of 100 websites were included in the final analysis. The quality of websites was assessed with four different quality tools. Readability levels of English texts were evaluated with six different readability formulas constructed for English and the readability levels of Turkish texts were evaluated with two readability formulas constructed for Turkish. Results: It was determined that the quality scores were generally higher in Turkish websites than in English websites, and there was a statistical difference between Turkish and English websites (p<0.05). It was observed that both readability levels of Turkish and English websites were 8th grade or higher. Conclusions: Quality scores were generally higher in Turkish websites than in English websites, and both Turkish and English websites were of low quality and readability levels of them were 8th grade or higher, thus quite difficult to read or to be understood and the quality, and readability of Turkish and English dental implant related online texts need to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Textbooks are essential resources for both learners and teachers when teaching Turkish as a foreign language. Texts in textbooks are the most fundamental documents used to instruct foreigners in Turkish. Texts in textbooks should be appropriate for the student level in terms of a variety of characteristics. Readability is one of the characteristics cited in the literature for determining the appropriateness of textbook texts to the student level. This study analyzed the text readability levels of the Anahtar-Turkish for Foreigners C1 textbook. Document analysis was utilized in the data collection process of the study. Two different formulas were used to determine the readability of the texts in the textbook: the Ateşman and Çetinkaya-Uzun formulas. The data were descriptively analyzed. The texts were categorized according to their levels of difficulty, and the results were tabulated. The study concluded that according to both formulas, the readability levels of the texts in the Turkish for Foreigners C1 textbook are similar; the texts are at a medium level according to Ateşman and an educational level according to Çetinkaya-Uzun, and the related textbook is easier in terms of readability level than similar textbooks in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) are rarely provided with translated clinical materials. Typically, healthcare clinics cite high costs of translation and lack of professional translators as barriers to this service. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the perceptions of LEP dental patients regarding the readability, understanding, and helpfulness of translated clinical forms produced by dental student doctor translators. Methods: We used a survey design and convenience sampling to recruit LEP patients from a dental school clinic. Participants completed a 9-question (8 Likert-type items and 1 open-ended item) paper survey about translated forms. The bilingual survey was a combination of English and 8 other languages (Arabic, Dari, Pashto, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, Urdu, or Vietnamese) and assessed the type of form received; self-reported literacy; design, readability, and helpfulness of the form; overall understanding of the form; understanding of medical and dental terms; helpfulness for patient-provider communication; and comfort level with dental care after receiving the form. Demographic characteristics of participants were collected from the clinic's electronic health record. Survey responses were analyzed descriptively, and Spearman's correlation was used to examine the relationship between outcomes. Results: Ninety-seven LEP patients (61.9% [60] female, 78.4% [70] Spanish speakers) completed 140 surveys for various translated forms in Dari, Pashto, Spanish, Urdu, or Vietnamese. Participants positively rated translated clinical forms: range, 50.4% (70) for design of the form to 80.0% (112) for comfort level with dental care after receiving the form. For the open-ended item, participants indicated the translations were good, and no improvements were needed. They also thought providing the form was evidence of good customer service. When examining relationships between outcomes, positive correlations were found between self-reported literacy and readability (Spearman r =.57, P <.001), overall understanding and understanding of medical and dental terms (Spearman r =.58, P <.001), and type of form and helpfulness for patient-provider communication (Spearman r =.26, P =.005). Conclusions: Study results suggested the translated clinical forms were perceived as helpful and beneficial by LEP dental patients. Similar approaches should be considered to reduce language barriers in healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients increasingly access online materials for health-related information. Using validated assessment tools, we aim to assess the quality and readability of online information for patients considering incisional hernia (IH) repair. The top three online search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo) were searched in July 2022 for "Incisional hernia repair" and "Surgical hernia repair". Included websites were classified as academic, hospital-affiliated, commercial, and unspecified. The quality of information was assessed using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria (0–4), DISCERN instrument (16–80), and the presence of Health On the Net code (HONcode) certification. Readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) tests. 25 unique websites were included. The average JAMA and DISCERN scores of all websites were 0.68 ± 1.02 and 36.50 ± 10.91, respectively. Commercial sites showed a significantly higher DISCERN mean score than academic sites (p = 0.034), while no significant difference was demonstrated between other website categories. 3 (12%) websites reported HONcode certification and had significantly higher JAMA (p = 0.016) and DISCERN (p = 0.045) mean scores than sites without certification. Average FRE and FKGL scores were 39.84 ± 13.11 and 10.62 ± 1.76, respectively, corresponding to college- and high school-level comprehensibility. Our findings suggest online patient resources on IH repair are of poor overall quality and may not be comprehensible to the public. Patients accessing internet resources for additional information on IH repair should be made aware of these inadequacies and directed to sites bearing HONcode certification. • Online information on incisional hernia repair assessed using five validated tools • Websites demonstrated poor overall quality and questionable reliability • All sites analyzed were written above the recommended 6th grade reading level [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standard reading passages allow for the study of the integrated functions of speech and voice components in contextual, running speech, with target stimuli in a controlled environment. In both clinical practice and research, these texts provide rapid insight into the characteristics of the patient's speech, with fewer hesitations than in conversational speech and better predictability by the evaluator. Although a plethora of texts exist in different languages, they present various limitations. A specifically created standardised text in each language allowing for an ecological assessment of speech and voice functions, meeting most required criteria for standard speech and voice assessment and adapted to the target language's cultural and linguistic specificities, would therefore be an interesting option. However, no guidelines exist for the creation of such a reading passage. This article describes the international Delphi consensus study carried out to identify a minimal set of criteria to take into account when creating standard reading passages for an overall speech and voice assessment in adolescents and adults. This survey was conducted in three consecutive rounds; forty experts participated in the first round, with a total dropout of 17% from round 1 to round 3. It results in a minimal set of ten criteria which were selected by a majority of the experts and were rated as most important. This set contains five phoneme-level, two word-level, two sentence-level criteria and one global-level criterion. It can be used as a general guideline for the creation of standard reading passages in Indo-European Romance and Germanic languages such as English, French and German. The construction of a new reading passage in French following this guideline is briefly described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have taken great interest in the assessment of text readability. This study expands on this research by developing readability models that predict the processing effort involved during first language (L1) and second language (L2) text reading. Employing natural language processing tools, the study focused on assessing complex linguistic features of texts, and these features were used to explain the variance in processing effort, as evidenced by eye movement data for L1 or L2 readers of English that were extracted from an open eye-tracking corpus. Results indicated that regression models using the indices of complex linguistic features provided better performance in predicting processing effort for both L1 and L2 reading than the models using simple linguistic features (word and sentence length). Furthermore, many of the predictive variables were lexical features for both L1 and L2 reading, emphasizing the importance of decoding for fluent reading regardless of the language used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Bariatric surgery is a successful treatment for obesity, but barriers to surgery exist, including low health literacy. National organizations recommend patient education materials (PEM) not exceed a sixth-grade reading level. Difficult to comprehend PEM can exacerbate barriers to bariatric surgery, especially in the Deep South where high obesity and low literacy rates exist. This study aimed to assess and compare the readability of webpages and electronic medical record (EMR) bariatric surgery PEM from one institution. Methods: Readability of online bariatric surgery and standardized perioperative EMR PEM were analyzed and compared. Text readability was assessed by validated instruments: Flesch Reading Ease Formula (FRE), Flesch Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Gunning Fog (GF), Coleman–Liau Index (CL), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), Automated Readability Index (ARI), and Linsear Write Formula (LWF). Mean readability scores were calculated with standard deviations and compared using unpaired t-tests. Results: 32 webpages and seven EMR education documents were analyzed. Webpages were overall "difficult to read" compared to "standard/average" readability EMR materials (mean FRE 50.5 ± 18.3 vs. 67.4 ± 4.2, p = 0.023). All webpages were at or above high school reading level: mean FKGL 11.8 ± 4.4, GF 14.0 ± 3.9, CL 9.5 ± 3.2, SMOG 11.0 ± 3.2, ARI 11.7 ± 5.1, and LWF 14.9 ± 6.6. Webpages with highest reading levels were nutrition information and lowest were patient testimonials. EMR materials were sixth to ninth grade reading level: FKGL 6.2 ± 0.8, GF 9.3 ± 1.4, CL 9.7 ± 0.9, SMOG 7.1 ± 0.8, ARI 6.1 ± 1.0, and LWF 5.9 ± 0.8. Conclusion: Surgeon curated bariatric surgery webpages have advanced reading levels above recommended thresholds compared to standardized PEM from an EMR. This readability gap may unintentionally contribute to barriers to surgery and affect postoperative outcomes. Streamlined efforts are needed to create materials that are easier to read and comply with recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obtaining accurate prevalence rates of sexual violence is made difficult by discrepancies in self-report questionnaires. Thus, the current study sought to explore participants' perceptions of acceptability (i.e., perceived difficulty and preference) as a potential mechanism of discrepancy between different questionnaires. Participants were 673 college students who completed two frequently used sexual victimization questionnaires, the Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Victimization (SES-SFV) and the Post-Refusal Sexual Persistence Scales-Victimization (PRSPS-V). Participants then answered questions about each measure's perceived difficulty and their preference between the two. Participants found the PRSPS-V easier to understand and preferred it 2.5 to 1 over the SES-SFV. Preference was related to reporting; participants who preferred the PRSPS-V reported more instances of sexual victimization on the PRSPS-V by 9.8%. Our results indicate that acceptability impacts reported prevalence rates and is one mechanism of discrepancy between questionnaires. Thus, researchers may wish to consider acceptability when choosing sexual victimization questionnaires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A longitudinal study was conducted to identify unique sources of individual differences in later understanding of the equal sign as a relational symbol of equivalence (i.e., formal understanding of mathematical equivalence). The sample included 141 children from a mid-sized city in the Midwestern United States (Mage = 6 years, 2 months in kindergarten; 88 boys, 53 girls; 71% white, 8% Hispanic or Latine, 7% Black, 3% Asian, 11% multiracial or other race/ethnicity; 42% qualified for free/reduced lunch). Children were assessed on three categories of skills in kindergarten including number knowledge, relational thinking, and executive functioning. These skills were hypothesized to provide a foundation for a formal understanding of mathematical equivalence (assessed in second grade) by preventing a specific, narrow misunderstanding of the equal sign that hinders learning. Results showed that kindergarten relational thinking, particularly tasks assessing nonsymbolic equivalence understanding, uniquely and positively predicted formal understanding of mathematical equivalence and negatively predicted the specific misunderstanding of the equal sign in second grade, controlling for IQ, gender, and free/reduced lunch status. Exploratory analyses unpacking the categories of skills into individual tasks also indicated specific areas of kindergarten instructional focus that may help children construct understanding of mathematical equivalence in future years. Public Significance Statement: Understanding the equal sign as a relational symbol of equivalence is a foundational pre-algebra concept. We found that children who had higher relational thinking skills in kindergarten had a better understanding of the equal sign by second grade than their peers with lower relational thinking skills in kindergarten. Our findings identify early relational thinking as a potential topic of interest for future research on kindergarten instruction aimed at improving later pre-algebraic learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the information content, readability, reliability, and quality level of websites that provide online information in Turkish about osteoporosis (OP). Materials and Methods: In September 2022, the words "osteoporosis, bone melt" were scanned on Google search and the first 20 websites were investigated. The websites were divided into three groups according to the creator: Group 1= hospitals, associations, and official institutions; group 2= health professionals; and group 3= others. The readability level was evaluated according to the Ateşman and Bezirci-Yılmaz formula; the reliability and quality were evaluated according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) score, the Quality Criteria for Consumer Health Information (DISCERN) scale, the Global Quality scale (GQS), and the Physician Global Quality assessment (PGQA). The information content was analyzed with reference to the subject headings in the patient information texts on the official website of the Turkish Osteoporosis Association. Results: One hundred sixty websites were included in the study; 62 were in group 1, 58 were in group 2, and 40 were in group 3. The median of the Ateşman value is 48,2, which is difficult to read; the Bezirci-Yılmaz value was a median of 12,6. The JAMA score was 1,0 and almost all (98,7%) websites were found to be low reliable. Only 10 of the websites had complete information content. The DISCERN score was of poor quality, with a median of 29. It was also found to be of insufficient quality for PGQA and GQS. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of readability, reliability, and quality criteria. Conclusion: Current findings show that Turkish websites are far from providing sufficient and quality information on osteoporosis. Considering the importance of patient education in the management of OP treatment, the results obtained are quite inadequate. Physicians and patients should be aware of this situation; relevant institutions should develop the necessary health policies to solve the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Persons with Alzheimer's disease dementia (ADD) often show impaired orientation, particularly in unknown environments. Signs may offer an opportunity to compensate for these deficits and thus improve participation. Methods We assessed 30 persons with ADD and 36 healthy controls by using a sign comprehension paradigm (SCP) in a real-life environment. Nonparametric mixed model analyses of variance were used to analyze the effect of different symbols and additional scripture (coding condition) on SCP performance speed and accuracy. Results Analyses revealed a significant main effect of symbol design on SCP speed as well as an interaction effect of group × symbol, indicating a benefit of concrete, optimized signs for persons with ADD. Furthermore, analyses of SCP error rates revealed the main effects of group and coding condition as well as an interaction effect of group × coding. Persons with ADD made more errors than healthy controls, but SCP error rates decreased significantly in ADD in the double-coding condition. Discussion Our findings revealed an advantage of concrete double-coded symbols over conventional symbols and therefore strongly suggest the implementation of concrete double-coded signs to support older people living with ADD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of tests in psychological and educational assessment is of great scholarly and public interest. Item difficulty models are vital to generating test result interpretations based on evidence. A major determining factor of item difficulty in knowledge tests is the opportunity to learn about the facts and concepts in question. Knowledge is mainly conveyed through language. Exposure to language associated with facts and concepts might be an indicator of the opportunity to learn. Thus, we hypothesize that item difficulty in knowledge tests should be related to the probability of exposure to the item content in everyday life and/or academic settings and therefore also to word frequency. Results from a study with 99 political knowledge test items administered to N = 250 German seventh (age: 11–14 years) and tenth (age: 15–18 years) graders showed that word frequencies in everyday settings (SUBTLEX-DE) explain variance in item difficulty, while word frequencies in academic settings (dlexDB) alone do not. However, both types of word frequency combined explain a considerable amount of the variance in item difficulty. Items with words that are more frequent in both settings and, in particular, relatively frequent in everyday settings are easier. High word frequencies and relatively higher word frequency in everyday settings could be associated with higher probability of exposure, conceptual complexity, and better readability of item content. Examining word frequency from different language settings can help researchers investigate test score interpretations and is a useful tool for predicting item difficulty and refining knowledge test items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Karya Journal of Health Science is the property of Karya Journal of Health Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Patients’ education is a vital strategy for understanding a disease by patients and proper management of the condition. Physicians and academicians frequently make customized education materials for their patients. An artificial intelligence (AI)‑based writer can help them write an article. Chat Generative Pre‑Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) is a conversational language model developed by OpenAI (openai.com). The model can generate human‑like responses. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the generated text from ChatGPT for its suitability in patients’ education. Materials and Methods: We asked the ChatGPT to list common dermatological diseases. It provided a list of 14 diseases. We used the disease names to converse with the application with disease‑specific input (e.g., write a patient education guide on acne). The text was copied for checking the number of words, readability, and text similarity by software. The text's accuracy was checked by a dermatologist following the structure of observed learning outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. For the readability ease score, we compared the observed value with a score of 30. For the similarity index, we compared the observed value with 15% and tested it with a one‑sample t‑test. Results: The ChatGPT generated a paragraph of text of 377.43 ± 60.85 words for a patient education guide on skin diseases. The average text reading ease score was 46.94 ± 8.23 (P < 0.0001), and it indicates that this level of text can easily be understood by a high‑school student to a newly joined college student. The text similarity index was higher (27.07 ± 11.46%, P = 0.002) than the expected limit of 15%. The text had a “relational” level of accuracy according to the SOLO taxonomy. Conclusion: In its current form, ChatGPT can generate a paragraph of text for patients’ educational purposes that can be easily understood. However, the similarity index is high. Hence, doctors should be cautious when using the text generated by ChatGPT and must check for text similarity before using it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the readability and reliability of online content related to cerebral palsy (CP) and to classify sites that contain quality and readable information. On April 30, 2022, the term "cerebral palsy" was searched on the Google search engine. The categories, quality, content, readability, Alexa rank values, and backlink numbers of the sites were analyzed. The Journal of American Medical Association score and HONcode seal were used for quality assessment, and the Flesch–Kincaid grade (FKG) and the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) were used for readability assessment. Of the 155 sites, 46 had high-quality content. The quality of health portal and scientific publishing sites appeared to be high. The top 10 sites were determined to be of significantly higher quality (p =.017) than the remaining sites. The average readability values of the sites were not at the recommended level. Despite the abundance of information available on CP-related websites, most of them were not of high quality. Additionally, many websites did not reach the recommended readability levels. Revision of existing online content related to CP and production of new high-quality content in line with readability recommendations is urgently required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to quantify the readability and quality of patient materials on the websites of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association and related orthopaedic societies. We analyzed 143 online patient materials of seven societies, including the Japanese Orthopaedic Association and related six societies. The readability of the text in the material was quantified using two web-based programs ("Obi-3" and "Readability Research Lab") and lexical density. The materials with a difficulty level ≤ second grade of junior high school were classified as "average difficulty," and those ≤ sixth grade of elementary school were classified as "easy to read." The quality of the materials was quantified using the validated Clear Communication Index, DISCERN, and Journal of American Medical Association benchmark criteria scores. The proportion of materials classified as sufficient quality was determined. The measurement values were compared among societies using Kruskal–Wallis tests. The median difficulty level of the overall materials was the third grade of junior high school using the Obi-3 program. Only 44 (31%) were classified as average difficulty, and none were classified as easy to read. Based on lexical density, 31 (22%) materials were classified as average difficulty. The median Clear Communication Index score was 18 points out of 100. The median DISCERN and Journal of American Medical Association benchmark criteria scores were 27 (out of 75) and 0 (out of 4), respectively. Only one material met the criteria as having sufficient quality. There were significant differences among societies in the lexical density, Clear Communication Index, and DISCERN scores. The patient materials on the Japanese Orthopaedic Association and related society websites were too difficult to understand. Furthermore, the quality of the materials was not sufficient. Improvement in readability and quality may be necessary to enhance patient-physician communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hispanic adults with skin cancer are known to exhibit worsened outcomes compared to their counterparts. To critically evaluate the literature on methods to educate Spanish-speaking patients on sun safety and skin cancer, we conducted a systematic review of PubMed, SCOPUS, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register databases from inception through December 18, 2021. Evidence quality was assessed using criteria from the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. A total of 1014 articles were identified and 10 articles using Spanish language materials for community dermatology education were included for review. Seven studies were interventional: four studies were community-based healthcare worker interventions, and three were video-based interventions. Two studies were patient survey studies on skin-related health literacy and the readability of patient resources. One was an online readability study. Our findings show that there is a need for an increased number of materials to educate Spanish-speaking patients about sun safety and skin cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors offer observation on utilizing tables, figures, charts and graphs to help understand the research presented in a simple manner but also engage and sustain the reader's interest. Topics discussed include benefits provided by the use of tables/figures/charts/graphs, general methodology of design and submission, and copyright issues of using material from government publications/public domain.

The translation of philosophical works is a topic that merits our attention both in respect of philosophical understanding and linguistic structure, although it is the former rather than the latter that prevails in discussions in Chinese academia. By drawing upon that branch of modern linguistics known as the lexical field theory, this paper attempts to analyze a host of related problems, including the following: readability as a basic requirement of translation, difficulties in translation caused by the syntactic-typological distance of source and target languages, consistency of translated terms in general, consistency of semantically related terms in translation, consistency of translated terms regarding the syntagmatic axis and the paradigmatic axis, the use of monosyllabic, disyllabic, or polysyllabic Chinese terms in translation, translation of long or rare terms into Chinese, the middle way between 'under-translation' and 'over-translation,' identification of lexical fields for the systematic treatment of translated terms, and finally the in-depth understanding of original texts in their source languages as a prerequisite of any serious attempt of translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Handwriting is a critical functional skill that impacts academic participation and progress. Occupational therapists address components of grasp in their handwriting intervention as it is commonly assumed that grasp affects legibility, fluency, and endurance, yet research studies examining this relationship are limited. We used scoping review methodology to map existing research on grasp and handwriting performance in school-age children and to identify gaps in the literature. Thirteen articles met search criteria and were categorized by grasp patterns and handwriting performance, and grasp force and handwriting performance. Findings suggest an inefficient grasp can lead to decreased handwriting legibility and fatigue. The current literature is inconclusive and several gaps were identified. Additional studies should address research gaps through inclusion of children with special needs and interventions including lengthier handwriting tasks representative of a typical school day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Readability is a systematic measure of ease, with which written information can be read and understood. It can affect the reader's ability to access, comprehend, and utilize health information. This study assessed the readability of online COVID-19 information readily available to the public to engage with. At a time when organisations and institutions were rapidly providing advice and reacting to a developing pandemic, it was hypothesised that some of that haste would be associated with a lack of clarity, as measured by readability indices. N = 65 website sources containing information relating to COVID-19 were accessed and assessed for inclusion in the study. Eight readability indices, including Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, were calculated to determine readability scores for each source of information. Readability scores varied greatly between individual sources of COVID-19 information. Despite the recommendation that information be presented to the general public at a sixth-grade reading level, most websites we assessed addressing COVID-19 information and advice presented content at greater than the recommended reading level. Based on these results, a significant amount of information available on the Internet about COVID-19 will not be easily readable for many individuals attempting to use the Internet to help inform their decisions about their health and behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) disseminated widely used lists of drug name pairs involved in wrong-drug errors, for which they recommended tall-man lettering (TML). Linguistic similarity is believed responsible for confusion of these drugs. This study aims to quantify linguistic similarity and other linguistic properties of these generic-generic name pairs. Methods: The FDA's Phonetic and Orthographic Computer Analysis (POCA) software was used to generate numerical similarity scores for the generic-generic name pairs on these lists and to identify conflicts between these names and the names of other marketed products. Within each pair, differences in name length and the number of identical prefix (initial) letters and suffix (final) letters were determined. Results: The selected pairs shared a mean of 2.5 (± 1.8) identical prefix letters and 3.2 (± 2.9) identical suffix letters. The mean POCA score 69.5 (± 9.7), indicated moderate-to-high similarity. POCA scores for individual pairs ranged from 90 (most similar) to 46 (least similar). Individual names averaged 11.2 (± 9.1) high-similarity conflicts with names of other marketed drugs. Conclusions: POCA analysis could be a valuable tool in determining whether linguistic similarity contributes to specific wrong-drug errors. The finding of 11.2 (± 9.1) high-similarity conflicts with names of other marketed drugs is more than for candidate names USAN accepts and suggests the names on the FDA and ISMP lists are linguistically problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient education materials (PEMs) are often used in health education programs to empower patients to self-manage their disease for better health outcomes. Heart failure (HF) patients wanted more information about self-management and educational materials that were easy to understand. Programs with self-efficacy as the core component have proven to be effective in improving patients' self-management. To develop practical, efficacy-enhanced, tailored HF rehabilitation PEMs that satisfy our clients to drive long-lasting behavior change and evaluate the materials' quality (readability, understandability, actionability, and acceptability). Exploratory mixed methods study involving: i) semi-structured interviews; ii) evaluation of the PEMs; iii) revision and reevaluation of the PEMs; iv) publication. An appointed panel of experts evaluates content accuracy, understandability, and actionability. The Patient Education Material Assessment Tool assesses content understandability and actionability. The content readability was assessed using Flesch Kincaid Calculator. Clients' acceptability was assessed using Educational Material Acceptability tool. The newly developed PEMs have good understandability, actionability, readability, and acceptance. Patient-centered PEMs have good acceptance and satisfaction among clients. However, the effectiveness of tailored efficacy-enhanced PEMs for behavior changes needs further evaluation. All stakeholders should be included in developing PEMs. A AJHE Self-Study quiz is online for this article via the SHAPE America Online Institute (SAOI) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Approximately 1 in 4 adults will develop hallux valgus (HV). Up to 80% of adult Internet users reference online sources for health-related information. Overall, with the high prevalence of HV combined with the numerous treatment options, we believe patients are likely turning to Internet search engines for questions relevant to HV. Using Google's people also ask (PAA) or frequently asked questions (FAQs) feature, we sought to classify these questions, categorize the sources, as well as assess their levels of quality and transparency. Methods: On October 9, 2022, we searched Google using these 4 phrases: "hallux valgus treatment," "hallux valgus surgery," "bunion treatment," and "bunion surgery." The FAQs were classified in accordance with the Rothwell Classification schema and each source was categorized. Lastly, transparency and quality of the sources' information were evaluated with the Journal of the American Medical Association's (JAMA) Benchmark tool and Brief DISCERN, respectively. Results: Once duplicates and FAQs unrelated to HV were removed, our search returned 299 unique FAQs. The most common question in our sample was related to the evaluation of treatment options (79/299, 26.4%). The most common source type was medical practices (158/299, 52.8%). Nearly two-thirds of the answer sources (184/299; 61.5%) were lacking in transparency. One-way analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in mean Brief DISCERN scores among the 5 source types, F(4) = 54.49 (P < .001), with medical practices averaging the worst score (12.1/30). Conclusion: Patients seeking online information concerning treatment options for HV search for questions pertaining to the evaluation of treatment options. The source type encountered most by patients is medical practices; these were found to have both poor transparency and poor quality. Publishing basic information such as the date of publication, authors or reviewers, and references would greatly improve the transparency and quality of online information regarding HV treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Internet has drastically changed how patients access health-related information. There are several ways the public can access online health-related information such as search engines, blogs, support groups, and webinars. A recent study found that 45% of orthopedic patients searched for information online regarding their injury. Also, 78% believed they had better understanding of their condition after visiting these websites; furthermore, 41% felt the Internet supplied them with questions and concerns to discuss with their physicians. The aim of our study is to evaluate the accuracy, quality, and readability of online available information using the search terms "ankle sprain" and "ankle instability." Methods: Three search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo) were used to search for the terms "ankle sprain" and "ankle instability." The first 25 websites from each search were collected. Each website was assessed for quality, accuracy, and readability by 3 orthopedic residents blinded to the search term used. Websites were also evaluated for commercial bias and whether written by physicians or not. Results: Twenty sites were identified using Google, 14 using Bing, and 3 using Yahoo while the remaining 19 appeared in multiple search engines. Sixty-nine percent of the websites (39/56) were written by physicians whereas only 21% (12/56) were associated with commercial bias. The mean quality and accuracy of the websites written above a seventh-grade level was statistically significantly higher than those at or below a seventh-grade level (P = .01). The mean accuracy of websites written by physicians was not statistically different from those not written by physicians (P = .055). Conclusion: The current study highlights the poor quality and accuracy of online information related to ankle sprains, especially those with commercial bias. Furthermore, although websites written by or under supervision of physicians were found to be of superior quality, a majority of sites were found to have an unacceptably high reading level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the translation quality of a children's story, "Dive", in the Let's Read app using Angelelli's scoring rubric. The focus is on the accuracy, fluency, readability, cultural adaptation, and style in the Indonesian translation, "Menyelam." The research uncovers the strengths and challenges of the translation process and its impact on the young Indonesian audience. With scores from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent), the study contributes significantly to the debate on translation quality assessment in children's literature. The findings offer insights for improving the translation process and reading experience for users of the Let's Read app. The study underscores the importance of accurate translation and cultural adaptation to maintain the educational value and reader engagement in translated children's literature for diverse audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter discusses the limitations of readability assessment tools, specifically in the context of using artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for patient education. The authors commend a recent study that evaluated the ability of an AI chatbot called ChatGPT to explain common ENT operations. While ChatGPT was able to simplify its responses, resulting in improved readability scores, the study found that this simplification came at the cost of information quality. The authors highlight the limitations of readability assessment tools, which mainly focus on quantifiable aspects of texts and may not consider factors such as organizational structure, concept difficulty, or familiarity with the subject. They also suggest that the assigned grade levels by different formulas may vary, affecting the reliability of these tools. The authors recommend that when using readability formulas, the assessed text should undergo edits to avoid misleading scores, and they call for the development of validated AI-oriented scoring tools to evaluate patient education material. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the challenges and strategies involved in publishing in the Oncology Nursing Forum. Topics include common reasons for desk rejection, the peer review process and its impact on manuscript revisions, and the importance of addressing editor and reviewer feedback to improve the chances of publication.

This article, published in Equine Veterinary Education, examines changes in equine insurance premiums and policies in the UK over the past five years. The study replicated a previous study from 2018 and evaluated the cost of insurance, accessibility, and readability of insurance policies. The results showed that the monthly premiums for insurance cover had increased for all five insurance companies, with a maximum increase of 189%. The study also found that the insurance documents remained difficult to read for most horse owners, which can make decisions about colic treatment more stressful. The authors suggest that insurance companies should make their policies clearer and simpler for owners to understand. [Extracted from the article]

KEY POINTS: Patients are increasingly turning to online education materials to aid with disease management.Patient education materials on aspirin‐exacerbated respiratory disease are of poor readability with significant room for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem in language comprehension in people with right hemisphere damage (RHD) is more equivocal than people with left hemisphere damage. This study explores the reading and listening comprehension of Cantonese-speaking individuals with RHD, left hemisphere damage, and neurotypical healthy controls using the Cantonese Computerized Revised Token Test (CRTT-Cantonese) adapted from the English CRTT. Eighteen native Cantonese-speaking individuals with RHD, 32 individuals with left hemisphere damage and aphasia (PWA), and 42 healthy controls participated in this study. All the participants completed the Cantonese Aphasia Battery, Hong Kong Oxford Cognitive Screen, the listening comprehension version of CRTT-Cantonese (CRTT-L-Cantonese), and the reading comprehension version of CRTT-Cantonese (CRTT-R-WF-Cantonese) across different sessions. Linear mixed-effect analysis revealed significant differences among the groups in CRTT-Cantonese tests. However, there were no significant difference between CRTT-L-Cantonese and CRTT-R-WF-Cantonese within the PWA, RHD and healthy control groups. Tukey post-hoc pairwise comparisons showed that PWA scored significantly lower than RHD and healthy control groups (p < 0.0001) in both CRTT-L-Cantonese and CRTT-R-WF-Cantonese, and the RHD group scored significantly lower than healthy control group only on the CRTT-R-WF-Cantonese. The results demonstrate that the CRTT-L-Cantonese and CRTT-R-WF-Cantonese differentiate language comprehension abilities among PWA, RHD and healthy control groups. Although the current findings did not show any diversion between reading and listening comprehension in RHD group, this group showed poorer performance in reading comprehension when compared to healthy controls. The latter findings may support the view that the right hemisphere contributes to reading comprehension in Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the suitability of newborn hearing screening brochures by evaluating current state-level brochures and pregnant people's understanding of screening result terminology. In Study 1, state-level brochures were evaluated based on readability, design, picture appropriateness, and use of the word "refer." In Study 2, pregnant people completed a questionnaire that queried their understanding of and expected anxiety about three newborn hearing screening outcomes ("refer," "did not pass," and "pass"). In Study 1, 59 newborn hearing screening brochures were analysed. In Study 2, 43 pregnant people completed surveys during a prenatal appointment. Most of the brochures were found deficient on at least one element. Thirty percent of brochures used the word "refer" to indicate a hearing screening failure; yet, fewer than half of participants understood its meaning. Ratings of expected anxiety were highest in response to the term "did not pass." Based on four study criteria of brochure suitability, 88% of available state-level newborn hearing screening brochures should be modified to make them readily understandable by a broad educational demographic. Discretion in use of the term "refer" should be made when indicating screening results, because the term is not readily understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community outreach and engagement has been a regular activity of the National Cancer Institute at its designated Cancer Centers. However, in 2016, community outreach and engagement became a required activity for all cancer centers. Yet there is a gap in the literature that provides guidelines for developing materials that resonate with communities. We developed the PEARL rubric to fulfill that gap from our work developing culturally sensitive breast cancer education materials for African American and Immigrant African women. We conducted a targeted literature review to understand the approaches that have been used for developing education materials for communities. We reviewed the literature and distilled key elements into our PEARL guide for creating culturally appropriate education materials. PEARL consists of five elements: Plain language and understandability, Explicit data, statistics, and graphs, Affirmative framing, Representative content, and Local connection. PEARL is a modern comprehensive guide that researchers can use for creating culturally sensitive materials. It is designed to guide researchers develop educational materials who have little to no experience in community engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As patients seek online health information to supplement their medical decision‐making, the aim of this study is to assess the quality and readability of internet information on the left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Methods: Three online search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo) were searched for "LVAD" and "Left ventricular assist device." Included websites were classified as academic, foundation/advocacy, hospital‐affiliated, commercial, or unspecified. The quality of information was assessed using the JAMA benchmark criteria (0–4), DISCERN tool (16–80), and the presence of Health On the Net code (HONcode) accreditation. Readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease score. Results: A total of 38 unique websites were included. The average JAMA and DISCERN scores of all websites were 0.82 ± 1.11 and 52.45 ± 13.51, respectively. Academic sites had a significantly lower JAMA mean score than commercial (p < 0.001) and unspecified (p < 0.001) websites, as well as a significantly lower DISCERN, mean score than commercial sites (p = 0.002). HONcode certification was present in 6 (15%) websites analyzed, which had significantly higher JAMA (p < 0.001) and DISCERN (p < 0.016) mean scores than sites without HONcode certification. Readability was fairly difficult and at the level of high school students. Conclusions: The quality of online information on the LVAD is variable, and overall readability exceeds the recommended level for the public. Patients accessing online information on the LVAD should be referred to sites with HONcode accreditation. Academic institutions must provide higher quality online patient literature on LVADs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is converging evidence that readers monitor text coherence and consistency by immediate, nonstrategic processes of validation. The literature also offers numerous instances of deficient validation. A prominent example of the latter is that understanders tend to overlook discourse anomalies that are embedded in given (presupposed) sentence information. However, we previously documented reading time "consistency effects" (O'Brien & Albrecht, 1992) that exposed readers' sensitivity to both given and new text discrepancies in numerous declarative syntactic constructions (Singer et al., 2017; Singer & Spear, 2020). Five new experiments addressed these phenomena with reference to constructions regularly shown to mask discourse inconsistencies: namely, interrogatives. In striking contrast with declaratives, five interrogative conditions in four experiments yielded no significant consistency effect. Experiments 2-4 documented coincident consistency effects with declarative but not interrogative constructions. A fifth experiment denied that the interrogative-construction findings resulted from readers' lack of knowledge about critical concepts. The cognitive-scientific linguistic construct of verb resolutivity offers a possible basis for these outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Internet has become a popular source of health information for patients and their families. Healthcare experts recommend that the readability of online education materials be at or below a sixth grade reading level. This translates to a standardized Flesch Reading Ease Score between 81 and 90, which is equivalent to conversational English. However, previous studies have demonstrated that the readability of online education materials of various orthopedic topics is too advanced for the average patient. To date, the readability of online education materials for pediatric spinal conditions has not been analyzed. The objective of this study was to assess the readability of online educational materials of top pediatric orthopedic hospital websites for pediatric spinal conditions. Methods: Online patient education materials from the top 25 pediatric orthopedic institutions, as ranked by the U.S. News and World Report hospitals for pediatric orthopedics, were assessed utilizing multiple readability assessment metrics including Flesch–Kincaid, Flesch Reading Ease, Gunning Fog Index, and others. Correlations between academic institutional ranking, geographic location, and the use of concomitant multimedia modalities with Flesch–Kincaid scores were evaluated using a Spearman regression. Results: Only 32% (8 of 25) of top pediatric orthopedic hospitals provided online health information at or below a sixth grade reading level. The mean Flesch–Kincaid score was 9.3 ± 2.5, Flesch Reading Ease 48.3 ± 16.2, Gunning Fog Score 10.7 ± 3.0, Coleman–Liau Index 12.1 ± 2.8, Simple Measure of the Gobbledygook Index 11.7 ± 2.1, Automated Readability Index 9.0 ± 2.7, FORCAST 11.3 ± 1.2, and Dale–Chall Readability Index 6.7 ± 1.4. There was no significant correlation between institutional ranking, geographic location, or use of video material with Flesch–Kincaid scores (p = 0.1042, p = 0.7776, p = 0.3275, respectively). Conclusion: Online educational material for pediatric spinal conditions from top pediatric orthopedic institutional websites is associated with excessively complex language which may limit comprehension for the majority of the US population. Type of study/Level of evidence: Economic and Decision Analysis/level III. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Readability metrics provide us with an objective and efficient way to assess the quality of educational texts. We can use the readability measures for finding assessment items that are difficult to read for a given grade level. Hard‐to‐read math word problems can put some students at a disadvantage if they are behind in their literacy learning. Despite their math abilities, these students can perform poorly on difficult‐to‐read word problems because of their poor reading skills. Less readable math tests can create equity issues for students who are relatively new to the language of assessment. Less readable test items can also affect the assessment's construct validity by partially measuring reading comprehension. Objectives: This study shows how large language models help us improve the readability of math assessment items. Methods: We analysed 250 test items from grades 3 to 5 of EngageNY, an open‐source curriculum. We used the GPT‐3 AI system to simplify the text of these math word problems. We used text prompts and the few‐shot learning method for the simplification task. Results and Conclusions: On average, GPT‐3 AI produced output passages that showed improvements in readability metrics, but the outputs had a large amount of noise and were often unrelated to the input. We used thresholds over text similarity metrics and changes in readability measures to filter out the noise. We found meaningful simplifications that can be given to item authors as suggestions for improvement. Takeaways: GPT‐3 AI is capable of simplifying hard‐to‐read math word problems. The model generates noisy simplifications using text prompts or few‐shot learning methods. The noise can be filtered using text similarity and readability measures. The meaningful simplifications AI produces are sound but not ready to be used as a direct replacement for the original items. To improve test quality, simplifications can be suggested to item authors at the time of digital question authoring. Lay Description: What is Known About the Subject: Difficult to read math assessment items cause measurement and equity issuesReadability of math word problems negatively correlated with outcomes What Our Paper Adds: GPT‐3 AI system is capable to simplify math word problemsPrompt‐based and few‐shot learning‐based approaches are able to create meaningful simplifications, but with a very low accuracy rateText similarity and readability measures can be used to filter out noisy outputs and discover interesting simplifications What are the Implications for Practitioners: GPT‐3 AI is capable of generating relevant math world problem simplificationsSimplified text can be used as suggestions to question authors during the digital item authoring process [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]