Trial Evaluation: Online Plain Language Tool and Health Information Quality

Key Points

Question  Can an online automated tool, the Health Literacy Editor, help health information providers apply health literacy principles to simplify written health information?

Findings  In this randomized clinical trial of 211 health information providers, people who used the Health Literacy Editor more effectively simplified health information compared with control participants. On average, the intervention group produced texts suitable for a person with significantly fewer years of school education compared with the control group.

Meaning  The findings suggest that the Health Literacy Editor is a scalable tool that can support development of written health information that adheres to plain language principles in clinical and nonclinical settings.