Readability of 3 Heart Disease Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaires

PURPOSE: To compare the readability of the English language versions of 3 heart disease health-related quality of life questionnaires, the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure (MLHF) Questionnaire, the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ), and the MacNew Heart Disease Health-Related Quality of Life (MacNew) Questionnaire. METHODS: The readability of the MLHF, the SAQ, and the MacNew was calculated using 6 different readability formulas; the FOG Index, the Fry Readability Formula for Short Passages, the Harris-Jacobson, the Flesch, the New Dale-Chall, and the SMOG. RESULTS: The reading grade level of the MacNew averaged between the fifth and sixth grades. Readability of the MLHF and the SAQ averaged between the seventh and eighth grade levels. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that care should be taken to select heart disease health-related quality of life instruments that match closely the reading level of the target population as the ease of reading these 3 heart disease health-related quality of life instruments varies.