Reading level, learning presentation preference, and desire for information among cancer patients.

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Abstract
Cancer patients may face a number of obstacles to learning, including complexity of information, inappropriateness of timing and method of presentation, avoidance as a way of coping, and inability to read. Patients' reading levels, preferred learning methods, and desires for information and the usefulness of two instruments in a clinical setting were investigated. One instrument provided information about sociodemographics, desire for information, and learning preferences; the second instrument, the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM), assessed reading ability. The 63 patients studied, most of whom were African American, wanted all available information (90%), desired participation in care decisions (68%), and preferred personal interactive learning (77%). The REALM mean score was 50.8, indicating a seventh-to-eighth-grade reading level. Over half read below their stated educational levels and would be unable to read most available patient education materials. Educational level did not indicate reading ability; the patients could state their desires for information and their learning preferences, and the REALM was easy to use.

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