Evaluation of the patient education material “Midwifery Guidelines for Pregnant Women and Their Family” using PEMAT-P and jReadability

Abstract

Purpose

To determine whether the “Midwifery Guidelines for Pregnant Women and Their Family” is understandable and actionable for average women and their families to clarify issues for the next revision.

Methods

From the 54 items, including question, answer, and the explanation, in the Guidelines, 19 were evaluated. Two midwives evaluated 19 of 54 items of the Guidelines using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool-P (PEMAT-P) on the bases of understandability and actionability. The transcription of the discussion between the midwives to reach a consensus on the PEMAT-P assessments and the data from the semi-structured interviews, conducted after the assessments, regarding the reasons for the rating were subjected to qualitative descriptive analyses. Readability was assessed using the text readability measurement system.

Results

The mean score for understandability was 77.7 (standard deviation: SD = 13.8), with 16 (84.2%) of the 19 evaluated items being above the cutoff of 70. The mean score for actionability was 39.8 (SD = 25.9), with 2 (10.5%) items above the cutoff of 70. Based on the qualitative data collected, it was found that the Guidelines should be revised as per the readiness of the readers, considering the order in which the contents appear, and adding and revising visual materials and direct actionable expressions to help readers with smooth understanding and facilitating the understanding about the actions that the readers can take. The mean score for readability was 2.3 (SD = 0.6), labeling Japanese writing of the Guidelines as difficult.

Conclusion

The Guidelines was found to be understandable; however, it was difficult level in Japanese and unactionable. When revising, it is required to use easy-to-understand Japanese following the readiness of the readers and to include direct actionable expressions to allow the readers to take action.