Quantitative Assessment of Text Difficulty in Croatian Language

U radu su prikazana dosadašnja istraživanja u području statističke analize teksta, s posebnim naglaskom na razvoj formula čitkosti. Pored teorijskog objašnjenja čitanja, razumijevanja i čitkosti, prikazani su rezultati analize korpusa tekstova na engleskom i hrvatskom jeziku. Na kraju, preporučuje se formula čitkosti za hrvatski jezik, modificirana prema Fleschovoj formuli za engleski jezik, koja se može koristiti kao objektivni pokazatelj za grubu procjenu težine teksta na hrvatskom jeziku.This paper presents past research in the field of statistical text analysis, with special emphasis on development of readability formulas. Apart from the theoretical part on reading, comprehension, and readability, the paper also presents results of analysis of a corpus of English and Croatian texts. Finally, a readability formula for Croatian language is suggested, as modified from Flesch Reading Ease for English language, which could be used as an objective indicator for a rough assessment of text difficulty in Croatian language

Development of SMOG-Cro Readability Formula for Healthcare Communication and Patient Education

Effective communication shows a positive impact on patient satisfaction, compliance and medical outcomes, at the same time reducing the healthcare costs. Written information for patients needs to correspond to health literacy levels of the intended audiences. Readability formulas correlate well with the reading and comprehension tests but are considered an easier and quicker method to estimate a text diffi culty. SMOG readability formula designed for English language needs to be modifi ed if used for texts in other languages. The aim of this study was to develop a readability formula based on SMOG, that could be used to estimate text diffi culty of written materials for patients in Croatian language. Contrastive analysis of English and Croatian language covering a corpus of almost 100,000 running words showed clear linguistic differences in the number of polysyllabic words. The new formula, named SMOG-Cro, is presented as an equation: SMOG-Cro =2+√4+ syllables, with the score showing the number of years of education a person needs to be able to understand a piece of writing. The presented methodology could help in the development of readability formulas for other languages. We hope the results of this study are soon put into practice for more effective healthcare communication and patient education, and for development of a health literacy assessment tool in Croatian language

COMMUNICATION WITH SURGICAL PATIENTS OF OLDER AGE ON THE INTERNET

U novijoj literaturi postoje brojni podaci o sve većem zanimanju opće populacije za traženje informacija o zdravlju putem interneta, a sve je više i internetskih stranica posvećeno zdravlju. Štoviše, internet postaje sve popularniji način komuniciranja između zdravstvenih radnika i pacijenata. To je dovelo do mnogih pokušaja određivanja vrlo specifičnih smjernica o kvaliteti informacija za pacijente na internetu, uključujući i različite aspekte pristupačnosti zdravstvenih informacija. U ovom se radu prikazuju rezultati istraživanja koje je proučavalo strukturu izvora informacija za kirurške pacijente. Analiza profila pacijenata pokazuje da su pacijenti starije životne dobi rijetko tražili na internetu informacije o kirurškom zahvatu, a uglavnom su se oslanjali na komunikaciju sa svojim liječnikom. U radu se nude različiti načini kako ovaj medij učiniti što privlačnijim pacijentima te kako iskoristiti bogato iskustvo starije generacije pacijenata za poboljšanje kvalitete komunikacije između liječnika i pacijenta.A growing interest of general population to seek health information on the Internet and a growing body of health websites have been well documented in the recent health literature. Moreover, the Internet has become a popular mode of communication between healthcare providers and patients. This has resulted in many efforts to set specific quality guidelines for development of information for patients on the Internet, including different aspects of access to health information. This paper presents results of a study that explored the structure of information sources of surgical patients. Analysis of patient profiles shows that older patients rarely sought surgical information on the Internet, and mostly relied on communication with their doctors. This paper discusses various options of how to make this medium more attractive to patients and how to use the rich experience of the older patient generations to improve the quality of doctor-patient communication

Priprema pisanih materijala za pacijente – doprinos smanjenju zdravstvene nejednakosti u korištenju zdravstvene zaštite

Izlaganje na konferenciji MICC 2013 - Zdravstvena pismenost na tematiku pisanih materijala za pacijent

Razvoj formula čitkosti za zdravstvenu komunikaciju na hrvatskom jeziku [Developing readability formulas for healthcare communication in Croatian language]

The aim of this PhD thesis is to develop a model for quantitative assessment of written text complexity. This will be the basis for developing an instrument for health literacy assessment, as neither the readability formula nor the health literacy assessment instrument exist yet for Croatian language. Adequate readability of written materials, i.e. text complexity tailored to a specific target population, is important for collection of patient data, for patient educational materials, and for documents which will gurantee the active role of patients in making healthcare decisions. Contrastive analysis of texts in English and their existing translations in Croatian language provided an insight into text variables necessary for readability assessment by readability formulas. The existing readibility formulas validated for English language may be used for Croatian texts provided the formulas are modified or their scores converted as presented here, because the score trends are comparable. Readability formulas are recommended here as rough estimates of the difficulty of written materials for patients since reading tests applied to test comprehension are not applicable for Croatian language because of its orthographic transparency, and readability formulas correlate well with comprehension tests. The importance of this study lies in the potential practical application of its results in the preparation of written materials for patients since it may contribute to decreasing the health inequalities in the use of healthcare services from the aspect of communication. This should result in a more dominantly patient-centred health care, increased quality of health care, and reduced health care costs

Developing readability formulas for healthcare communication in Croatian language

Cilj ove disertacije je razvoj modela za kvantitativnu ocjenu kompleksnosti pisanih materijala, što je polazište za izradu instrumenta za ocjenu zdravstvene pismenosti, a takav model ni instrument ne postoje za hrvatski jezik. Adekvatna čitkost pisanih materijala, odnosno prilagođena razina težine teksta specifičnoj ciljnoj populaciji, važna je ne samo kod prikupljanja podataka od ispitanika, već i kod tekstova za edukaciju pacijenata i dokumenata koji jamče aktivnu ulogu pacijenta u odlučivanju o vlastitom zdravlju. U ovom je radu kontrastivnom analizom tekstova na engleskom jeziku i njhovih postojećih prijevoda na hrvatskom jeziku omogućen uvid u one varijable jezika koje su nužne za računanje čitkosti pisanih materijala upotrebom formula čitkosti. Postojeće formule čitkosti validirane za engleski jezik mogu se koristiti za tekstove na hrvatskom jeziku uz konverziju indeksa čitkosti odnosno modifikaciju formula kako je prikazano u rezultatima ovog istraživanja, jer pokazuju usporedive trendove indeksa. Preporučuje se upotreba formula čitkosti za grubu procjenu težine pisanih materijala za pacijente, jer zbog ortografske transparentnosti hrvatskog jezika nije moguće korištenje testova čitanja za testiranje razumijevanja, a formule čitkosti dobro koreliraju s testovima razumijevanja. Važnost ovog rada ogleda se i u mogućoj praktičnoj primjeni rezultata ovog istraživanja kod pripreme pisanih materijala za pacijente, jer se očekuje da to može pridonijeti smanjivanju zdravstvenih nejednakosti u korištenju zdravstvene zaštite s komunikacijskog aspekta, što bi za posljedicu trebalo imati veću orijentiranost ka pacijentu u odnosu liječnik-pacijent, te povećanje kvalitete zdravstvene zaštite uz istodobno smanjenje troškova u zdravstvenom sustavu.The aim of this PhD thesis is to develop a model for quantitative assessment of written text complexity. This will be the basis for developing an instrument for health literacy assessment, as neither the readability formula nor the health literacy assessment instrument exist yet for Croatian language. Adequate readability of written materials, i.e. text complexity tailored to a specific target population, is important for collection of patient data, for patient educational materials, and for documents which will gurantee the active role of patients in making healthcare decisions. Contrastive analysis of texts in English and their existing translations in Croatian language provided an insight into text variables necessary for readability assessment by readability formulas. The existing readibility formulas validated for English language may be used for Croatian texts provided the formulas are modified or their scores converted as presented here, because the score trends are comparable. Readability formulas are recommended here as rough estimates of the difficulty of written materials for patients since reading tests applied to test comprehension are not applicable for Croatian language because of its orthographic transparency, and readability formulas correlate well with comprehension tests. The importance of this study lies in the potential practical application of its results in the preparation of written materials for patients since it may contribute to decreasing the health inequalities in the use of healthcare services from the aspect of communication. This should result in a more dominantly patient-centred health care, increased quality of health care, and reduced health care costs

Developing readability formulas for healthcare communication in Croatian language

Cilj ove disertacije je razvoj modela za kvantitativnu ocjenu kompleksnosti pisanih materijala, što je polazište za izradu instrumenta za ocjenu zdravstvene pismenosti, a takav model ni instrument ne postoje za hrvatski jezik. Adekvatna čitkost pisanih materijala, odnosno prilagođena razina težine teksta specifičnoj ciljnoj populaciji, važna je ne samo kod prikupljanja podataka od ispitanika, već i kod tekstova za edukaciju pacijenata i dokumenata koji jamče aktivnu ulogu pacijenta u odlučivanju o vlastitom zdravlju. U ovom je radu kontrastivnom analizom tekstova na engleskom jeziku i njhovih postojećih prijevoda na hrvatskom jeziku omogućen uvid u one varijable jezika koje su nužne za računanje čitkosti pisanih materijala upotrebom formula čitkosti. Postojeće formule čitkosti validirane za engleski jezik mogu se koristiti za tekstove na hrvatskom jeziku uz konverziju indeksa čitkosti odnosno modifikaciju formula kako je prikazano u rezultatima ovog istraživanja, jer pokazuju usporedive trendove indeksa. Preporučuje se upotreba formula čitkosti za grubu procjenu težine pisanih materijala za pacijente, jer zbog ortografske transparentnosti hrvatskog jezika nije moguće korištenje testova čitanja za testiranje razumijevanja, a formule čitkosti dobro koreliraju s testovima razumijevanja. Važnost ovog rada ogleda se i u mogućoj praktičnoj primjeni rezultata ovog istraživanja kod pripreme pisanih materijala za pacijente, jer se očekuje da to može pridonijeti smanjivanju zdravstvenih nejednakosti u korištenju zdravstvene zaštite s komunikacijskog aspekta, što bi za posljedicu trebalo imati veću orijentiranost ka pacijentu u odnosu liječnik-pacijent, te povećanje kvalitete zdravstvene zaštite uz istodobno smanjenje troškova u zdravstvenom sustavu.The aim of this PhD thesis is to develop a model for quantitative assessment of written text complexity. This will be the basis for developing an instrument for health literacy assessment, as neither the readability formula nor the health literacy assessment instrument exist yet for Croatian language. Adequate readability of written materials, i.e. text complexity tailored to a specific target population, is important for collection of patient data, for patient educational materials, and for documents which will gurantee the active role of patients in making healthcare decisions. Contrastive analysis of texts in English and their existing translations in Croatian language provided an insight into text variables necessary for readability assessment by readability formulas. The existing readibility formulas validated for English language may be used for Croatian texts provided the formulas are modified or their scores converted as presented here, because the score trends are comparable. Readability formulas are recommended here as rough estimates of the difficulty of written materials for patients since reading tests applied to test comprehension are not applicable for Croatian language because of its orthographic transparency, and readability formulas correlate well with comprehension tests. The importance of this study lies in the potential practical application of its results in the preparation of written materials for patients since it may contribute to decreasing the health inequalities in the use of healthcare services from the aspect of communication. This should result in a more dominantly patient-centred health care, increased quality of health care, and reduced health care costs

Priprema pisanih materijala za pacijente – doprinos smanjenju zdravstvene nejednakosti u korištenju zdravstvene zaštite

Izlaganje na konferenciji MICC 2013 - Zdravstvena pismenost na tematiku pisanih materijala za pacijent

Development of SMOG-Cro Readability Formula for Healthcare Communication and Patient Education

Effective communication shows a positive impact on patient satisfaction, compliance and medical outcomes, at the same time reducing the healthcare costs. Written information for patients needs to correspond to health literacy levels of the intended audiences. Readability formulas correlate well with the reading and comprehension tests but are considered an easier and quicker method to estimate a text diffi culty. SMOG readability formula designed for English language needs to be modifi ed if used for texts in other languages. The aim of this study was to develop a readability formula based on SMOG, that could be used to estimate text diffi culty of written materials for patients in Croatian language. Contrastive analysis of English and Croatian language covering a corpus of almost 100,000 running words showed clear linguistic differences in the number of polysyllabic words. The new formula, named SMOG-Cro, is presented as an equation: SMOG-Cro =2+√4+ syllables, with the score showing the number of years of education a person needs to be able to understand a piece of writing. The presented methodology could help in the development of readability formulas for other languages. We hope the results of this study are soon put into practice for more effective healthcare communication and patient education, and for development of a health literacy assessment tool in Croatian language

Developing readability formulas for healthcare communication in Croatian language

Cilj ove disertacije je razvoj modela za kvantitativnu ocjenu kompleksnosti pisanih materijala, što je polazište za izradu instrumenta za ocjenu zdravstvene pismenosti, a takav model ni instrument ne postoje za hrvatski jezik. Adekvatna čitkost pisanih materijala, odnosno prilagođena razina težine teksta specifičnoj ciljnoj populaciji, važna je ne samo kod prikupljanja podataka od ispitanika, već i kod tekstova za edukaciju pacijenata i dokumenata koji jamče aktivnu ulogu pacijenta u odlučivanju o vlastitom zdravlju. U ovom je radu kontrastivnom analizom tekstova na engleskom jeziku i njhovih postojećih prijevoda na hrvatskom jeziku omogućen uvid u one varijable jezika koje su nužne za računanje čitkosti pisanih materijala upotrebom formula čitkosti. Postojeće formule čitkosti validirane za engleski jezik mogu se koristiti za tekstove na hrvatskom jeziku uz konverziju indeksa čitkosti odnosno modifikaciju formula kako je prikazano u rezultatima ovog istraživanja, jer pokazuju usporedive trendove indeksa. Preporučuje se upotreba formula čitkosti za grubu procjenu težine pisanih materijala za pacijente, jer zbog ortografske transparentnosti hrvatskog jezika nije moguće korištenje testova čitanja za testiranje razumijevanja, a formule čitkosti dobro koreliraju s testovima razumijevanja. Važnost ovog rada ogleda se i u mogućoj praktičnoj primjeni rezultata ovog istraživanja kod pripreme pisanih materijala za pacijente, jer se očekuje da to može pridonijeti smanjivanju zdravstvenih nejednakosti u korištenju zdravstvene zaštite s komunikacijskog aspekta, što bi za posljedicu trebalo imati veću orijentiranost ka pacijentu u odnosu liječnik-pacijent, te povećanje kvalitete zdravstvene zaštite uz istodobno smanjenje troškova u zdravstvenom sustavu.The aim of this PhD thesis is to develop a model for quantitative assessment of written text complexity. This will be the basis for developing an instrument for health literacy assessment, as neither the readability formula nor the health literacy assessment instrument exist yet for Croatian language. Adequate readability of written materials, i.e. text complexity tailored to a specific target population, is important for collection of patient data, for patient educational materials, and for documents which will gurantee the active role of patients in making healthcare decisions. Contrastive analysis of texts in English and their existing translations in Croatian language provided an insight into text variables necessary for readability assessment by readability formulas. The existing readibility formulas validated for English language may be used for Croatian texts provided the formulas are modified or their scores converted as presented here, because the score trends are comparable. Readability formulas are recommended here as rough estimates of the difficulty of written materials for patients since reading tests applied to test comprehension are not applicable for Croatian language because of its orthographic transparency, and readability formulas correlate well with comprehension tests. The importance of this study lies in the potential practical application of its results in the preparation of written materials for patients since it may contribute to decreasing the health inequalities in the use of healthcare services from the aspect of communication. This should result in a more dominantly patient-centred health care, increased quality of health care, and reduced health care costs