Article type
Year
Abstract
Background:
Cochrane Reviews are intended to help health care providers, practitioners and patients make informed decisions about health care. Plain language summaries (PLS) help to make information about research more open, transparent and accessible. This information is typically not written in a way that optimises understanding, accessibility and usability for patients and the public. The infographic format in PLS may be helpful in the effective communication of summaries to consumers.
Objectives:
To evaluate the effectiveness of infographics in communicating Cochrane plain language summaries among physiotherapy students.
Methods:
We conducted a randomised controlled trial. One hundred and thirty physiotherapy students participated in the study. Study participants were randomly assigned to two groups. Participants in the experimental group (N = 65) received the PLS in the form of infographics. The control group participants (N = 65) received the same PLS in its original form. We evaluated the differences in knowledge using a multiple choice questionnaire with a total score of five. We defined a minimum of a two-point difference as indicating a significant difference in knowledge gained.
Results:
There was no significant difference in knowledge gained by participants who received the PLS in the form of infographics (mean difference 1.17, 95% confidence interval -1.15 to -0.82; infographics group mean 4.15 ± 0.9, original format group mean 2.98 ± 1.11).
Conclusions:
The infographic format of the PLS did not have any value in communicating the summary better. Further investigation is needed to explore the effective communication of evidence to consumers.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement:
Knowledge about evidence and seeking the best evidence is essential for health care practitioners to achieve effective outcomes. Health information delivered to patients should be from good-quality evidence. We included physiotherapy students in this study to understand their comprehension and interpretation of the evidence in the form of plain language summaries in different formats.
Cochrane Reviews are intended to help health care providers, practitioners and patients make informed decisions about health care. Plain language summaries (PLS) help to make information about research more open, transparent and accessible. This information is typically not written in a way that optimises understanding, accessibility and usability for patients and the public. The infographic format in PLS may be helpful in the effective communication of summaries to consumers.
Objectives:
To evaluate the effectiveness of infographics in communicating Cochrane plain language summaries among physiotherapy students.
Methods:
We conducted a randomised controlled trial. One hundred and thirty physiotherapy students participated in the study. Study participants were randomly assigned to two groups. Participants in the experimental group (N = 65) received the PLS in the form of infographics. The control group participants (N = 65) received the same PLS in its original form. We evaluated the differences in knowledge using a multiple choice questionnaire with a total score of five. We defined a minimum of a two-point difference as indicating a significant difference in knowledge gained.
Results:
There was no significant difference in knowledge gained by participants who received the PLS in the form of infographics (mean difference 1.17, 95% confidence interval -1.15 to -0.82; infographics group mean 4.15 ± 0.9, original format group mean 2.98 ± 1.11).
Conclusions:
The infographic format of the PLS did not have any value in communicating the summary better. Further investigation is needed to explore the effective communication of evidence to consumers.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement:
Knowledge about evidence and seeking the best evidence is essential for health care practitioners to achieve effective outcomes. Health information delivered to patients should be from good-quality evidence. We included physiotherapy students in this study to understand their comprehension and interpretation of the evidence in the form of plain language summaries in different formats.