Readability of sun protection education materials for dermatology patients

Summary: This study evaluated the readability of online sun protection materials to assess their accessibility for both English- and Spanish-speaking populations. A Google search for “sun protection” was conducted in December 2024, and the first seven websites—American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), Skin Cancer Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Johns Hopkins Medicine, Visit Florida, and MedlinePlus—were reviewed. Readability was analyzed using nine validated calculators: Automated Readability Index (ARI), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Coleman-Liau Index, Gunning Fog Index, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), and Linsear Write Formula for English materials, and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (SOL), Spanish SMOG, and Crawford-Score for Spanish materials. A total of 73 web pages were reviewed—54 in English and 19 in Spanish. Readability levels ranged from 5th grade to college-entry, with most materials exceeding the sixth-grade reading level recommended by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and American Medical Association (AMA). English materials typically required 8th to 10th grade reading levels, with the FDA website requiring the highest reading level. Spanish materials ranged from 5th to 8th grade, but many websites, including Skin Cancer Foundation and Johns Hopkins, lacked Spanish translations, while others used interactive translation tools that could compromise accuracy. These findings underscore significant readability barriers to accessing sun protection information, particularly for Spanish speakers, and emphasize the need for simplified, culturally appropriate, multilingual materials to improve health literacy and promote equitable access to care. Ahmed S. Raihane¹, Jake Nusynowitz², Oluoma M. Edeh¹, John C. Trinidad³ 1. The University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, United States. 2. Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Miami, FL, United States. 3. Dermatology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States. Minoritized Populations and Health Disparities Research