Readability of Lumbar Spine MRI Reports: Will Patients Understand?
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Radiology reports have traditionally been written for referring clinical providers. However, as patients increasingly access their radiology reports through online medical records, concerns have been raised about their ability to comprehend these complex documents. The purpose of this study was to assess the readability of lumbar spine MRI reports. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed 110 lumbar spine MRI reports dictated by 11 fellowship-trained radiologists (eight musculoskeletal radiologists and three neuroradiologists) at a single academic medical center. We evaluated each article for readability using five quantitative readability tests: the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Flesch Reading Ease, Gunning Fog Index, Coleman-Liau Index, and the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook. The number of reports with readability at or below eighth-grade level (average reading ability of U.S. adults) and at or below sixth-grade level (level recommended by the National Institutes of Health and the American Medical Association for patient education materials) were determined. RESULTS: The mean readability grade level of the lumbar spine MRI reports was greater than the 12th-grade reading level for all readability scales. Only one report was written at or below eighth-grade level; no reports were written at or below sixth-grade level. CONCLUSION: Lumbar spine MRI reports are written at a level too high for the average patient to comprehend. As patients increasingly read their radiology reports through online portals, consideration should be made of patients' ability to read and comprehend these complex medical documents.
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For patients without a medical background, radiology reports are often inaccessible.
“For patients without a medical background, these reports are often inaccessible [9–12].”
From ChatGPT makes medicine easy to swallow: an exploratory case study on simplified radiology reports (2023) · cites this paper as [10]
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ChatGPT makes medicine easy to swallow: an exploratory case study on simplified radiology reports
Jeblick, K., Schachtner, B., Dexl, J., Mittermeier, A., Stüber, A. T., Topalis, J., Weber, T., Wesp, P., Sabel, B. O., Ricke, J., et al. (2023) · European Radiology · doi:10.1007/s00330-023-10213-1 · Cited by 549 · see citing works
- Authors
- Yi, P. H., Golden, S. K., Harringa, J. B., & Kliewer, M. A.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Venue
- American Journal of Roentgenology
- Publisher
- American Roentgen Ray Society
- Published
- 2019-03
- Volume
- 212
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 602-606
- ISSN
- 0002-9580 (ISSN-L)
- 0361-803X
- 1546-3141
- OpenAlex
- W2911117234
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 3.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Roentgenology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Radiology practices and education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
- Keywords
- patient understanding, lumbar spine MRI, online medical records, patient access to medical records, readability formulas, plain language, patient education materials
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Humans, Lumbar Vertebrae, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Spinal Diseases, Comprehension, Health Literacy
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