Critiquing Health-related information with the HON Code Criteria and Fry Readability Scale

Purdue University Northwest

College of Nursing

NUR 394 Health Promotion

Critiquing Health-related information with the HON Code Criteria and Fry Readability Scale

Name: _________________________________

Part I: HON Code Criteria

1. Visit the Hon-Code website: http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html

2. Identify one health related website and list the URL where you found the site

Name of the site you are evaluating
URL

Directions: Indicate yes or no regarding your evaluation of the site in relationship to meeting the identified criteria, and then provide rationale using examples from the site to support your answer.
1. Authoritative (2 points)Indicate the qualifications of the authorsExplain:	YES	NO
2. Complementarity (2 points)Information should support, not replace, the doctor-patient relationshipExplain:	YES	NO
3. Privacy (2 points)Respect the privacy and confidentiality of personal data submitted to the site by the visitorExplain:	YES	NO
4. Attribution (2 points)Cite the source(s) of published information, date medical and health pagesExplain:	YES	NO
5. Justifiability (2 points)Site must back up claims relating to benefits and performanceExplain:	YES	NO
6. Transparency (2 points)Accessible presentation, accurate email contactExplain:	YES	NO
7. Financial disclosure (2 points)Identify funding sourcesExplain:	YES	NO
8. Advertising policy (2 points)Clearly distinguish advertising from editorial contentExplain:	YES	NO
9. Your recommendation of the site. (1 point)Explain:	A. Quality SiteB. Use with CautionC. Do not Use

Part II: Fry Readability Tool (3 points)

Directions: Randomly select three separate 100-word passages from health related brochure from the American Heart Association, CDC, or another government website meant for patient education.

· Count every word including proper nouns, initializations, and numerals.

· Count the number of sentences in each 100-word sample (estimate to nearest tenth).

· Count the number of syllables in each 100-word sample. (Each numeral is a syllable. For example, 2007 is 5 syllables — two-thou-sand-se-ven – and one word.)

· Plot the average sentence length and the average number of syllables on the graph.

· The area in which it falls is the approximate grade level of readability

10. What is the name of the brochure? What grade level is the brochure written? (2 points)
11. Would you consider the brochure appropriate for patient education? (1 point)