A-229 Is the Multitude Proficiently Able to Elucidate the Imperative Substance and Subsequently Able to Identify the Applicable Inferential Material to Adequately Utilize Assessments: Can People Read and Understand our Reports?

Objective Many U.S. adults read at an eighth-grade level (Safeer, R., 2005). Thus, neuropsychological reports’ technical language might present a challenge for average readers. However, there are no professional guidelines on report readability and little formal research on the topic. Hence, the study’s objective was to investigate the average readability of psychological and neuropsychological reports from a local university clinic and to provide suggestions for improving the readability of reports. Method 73 psychological reports and 34 neuropsychological reports were analyzed using the readability feature in Microsoft Word. This feature provides two outcomes of interest: the Flesch Reading Ease score (a 100-point scale with higher numbers indicating easier readability) and the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level Score (which provides a U.S. grade-level equivalence). Documents are considered readable with a reading ease score of 60 and a grade level score of 8.0. The average and range of scores for each report type were calculated. Results In general, psychological reports were written at a 13.2 (12–14.8) grade level, with a readability score of 34.3 (24.2–41.4). Neuropsychological reports were written at a 12.6 (11.2–14.5) grade level, with a readability score of 36.3 (25.5–42.7). Conclusion(s) The reports reviewed are functionally unreadable to many in the general public, which has important implications for clinical practice. This could be addressed by altering the reading level at which reports are written, including “plain-language” inserts, or altering specific parts of reports that have the most relevance to clients (e.g. summary and recommendations) to increase comprehension. Feedback on these ideas will be garnered at the poster.