Readability of COVID-19 information by the Malaysian Ministry of Health

• Main Authors: Ab Hamid, Ahmad Rauyani, Hashim, Muhammad Faizuddin, Ab Hassan, Nurliyana, Mhd Azhan, Norsadida
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia 2020
• Subjects: T10.5 Communication of technical information
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/81032/1/622-Article%20Text-1784-1-10-20200623.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/81032/; https://journal.unisza.edu.my/jonus/index.php/jonus/index; http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss2pp170-191

Background and Purpose: COVID-19 pandemic has caused catastrophe to global health. To collectively break the chain of infection, the Malaysian Ministry of Health (MMoH) disseminates information about COVID-19 through its official websites. Since they are intended for the general public, this crucial information must be easy to comprehend. A textual analysis was conducted to assess the readability level of COVID-19 information by the MMoH. Methodology: Out of 661 materials related to COVID-19 from four MMoH’s websites, 14 texts were purposively selected for the analysis. The Formula Kebolehbacaan Khadijah Rohani (FKKR) and Sistem Kebolehbacaan Bahasa Melayu (SPIKE) were then employed to check their reading difficulty. Findings: It was found that most of the texts were written above the recommended level, 6th grade or year 6. The findings suggest that this information is readable to three-quarters (78.7%) of Malaysian adults aged 15 and above. However, the remaining 21.3% of the same population, which equals 5.3 million Malaysian adults, may not be able to comprehend this information due to their illiteracy or minimal education. SPIKE Dyslexia scores revealed that nine texts are categorised as difficult. This could impede those with reading difficulties to understand the COVID-19 information provided by this ministry. Contributions: These research findings are hoped to be useful for the improvement of health literacy among the general public by taking into account reading difficulty of health information.