Evaluating the Use of Large Language Models in Improving the Readability of Online Patient Education…

AI / informaticsHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)· Jun 2026

Evaluating the Use of Large Language Models in Improving the Readability of Online Patient Education Materials for Peripheral Nerve Surgery.

Nikhil Sriram, Rishi Jain, Mehul Mittal … Najib El Tecle

Peripheral NerveAI / informaticsClinical practiceQ2IF 1.2

Peripheral nerve surgery patient education materials read far above the recommended sixth-grade level.

Evaluating the Use of Large Language Models in Improving the Readability of Online Patient Education Materials for Peripheral Nerve Surgery.

Nikhil Sriram … Najib El Tecle

Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · Jun 2026

Purpose

This study assesses the utility of ChatGPT and Gemini in enhancing the readability of online patient education materials for peripheral nerve surgeries.

Methods

Eleven common peripheral nerve surgeries were used as online search terms.

n = 155 OPEMs

Results

Average reading grade level of these materials was 11.3, well above the 6th-grade target.

11.3FKGL

Original OPEMs

7.5FKGL

ChatGPT rewrite

5.6FKGL

Gemini rewrite

More results

In total, 155 online patient education materials met the inclusion criteria; 65 websites were excluded because they were academic journal articles or other provider-facing materials.

“

Conclusion · 1 of 3

The readability of online patient education materials for peripheral nerve surgery significantly exceeded National Institutes of Health/American Medical Association recommendations.

Conclusion · 2 of 3

ChatGPT and Gemini were able to significantly simplify the reading level of these online patient education materials.

Conclusion · 3 of 3

large language models may serve as tools to improve the readability of peripheral nerve surgery online patient education materials.

Evaluating the Use of Large Language Models in Improving the Readability of Online Patient Education Materials for Peripheral Nerve Surgery.

Evaluating the Use of Large Language Models in Improving the Readability of Online Patient Education Materials for Peripheral Nerve Surgery.

Related papers