Evaluation of Readability of Educational Materials for Coronary Artery Disease and the Impact of Health Literacy on Medication Adherence and Health Outcomes

Abstract

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major problem in the United States, impacting 5% of American adults. Ensuring medication adherence is of vital importance, as lower adherence to cardiovascular medications is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with CAD. Many adults in the United States have poor health literacy, contributing to difficulty comprehending their conditions and potentially the importance of medication adherence. While the EPA recommended grade level for patient education materials (PEMs) is below an eighth grade level, most are written at a much higher level than this, which may cause disparity in patients’ level of understanding. The purpose of our review was to benchmark the reading levels of several widely used PEMs to determine if they fell within the recommended guidelines and to discuss the potential role of pharmacists in medication education and adherence. Twenty PEMs relevant to CAD were gathered and their readability was analyzed using the software on Microsoft Word to determine the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) of each PEM. It was determined that 85% of the PEMs ranked higher than the current recommendation, indicating that work needs to be done to ensure adequate patient understanding and adherence. Through pharmacist involvement, industry-wide awareness, and collaborative efforts, adherence to the readability standard can be achieved, improving health outcomes and medication adherence in patients with CAD.