A critical evaluation of written discharge advice for people with mild traumatic brain injury: what should we be looking for?
OBJECTIVE
To formally evaluate the written discharge advice for people with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).


METHODS
Eleven publications met the inclusion criteria: (1) intended for adults; (2) ≤two A4 pages; (3) published in English; (4) freely accessible; and (5) currently used (or suitable for use) in Australian hospital emergency departments or similar settings. Two independent raters evaluated the content and style of each publication against established standards. The readability of the publication, the diagnostic term(s) contained in it and a modified Patient Literature Usefulness Index (mPLUI) were also evaluated.


RESULTS
The mean content score was 19.18 ± 8.53 (maximum = 31) and the mean style score was 6.8 ± 1.34 (maximum = 8). The mean Flesch-Kincaid reading ease score was 66.42 ± 4.3. The mean mPLUI score was 65.86 ± 14.97 (maximum = 100). Higher scores on these metrics indicate more desirable properties. Over 80% of the publications used mixed diagnostic terminology. One publication scored optimally on two of the four metrics and highly on the others.


DISCUSSION
The content, style, readability and usefulness of written mTBI discharge advice was highly variable. The provision of written information to patients with mTBI is advised, but this variability in materials highlights the need for evaluation before distribution. Areas are identified to guide the improvement of written mTBI discharge advice.
['Kempe|Chloe B|CB|', 'Sullivan|Karen A|KA|', 'Edmed|Shannon L|SL|']
D001315:Australia D001930:Brain Injuries D003072:Cognition Disorders D032882:Comprehension D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine D006801:Humans D010351:Patient Discharge D010353:Patient Education as Topic D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
mild traumatic brain injury Acquired brain injury head injury neurocognitive disorder neuropsychology patient information post-concussion syndrome post-traumatic stress disorder