BACKGROUND Patient information materials and decision aids are essential tools for helping patients make informed decisions and share in decision-making. The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of the written patient information materials available at general practices in Styria, Austria. METHODS We asked general practitioners to send in all patient information materials available in their practices and to answer a short questionnaire. We evaluated the materials using the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP-36) instrument. RESULTS A total of 387 different patient information materials were available for quality assessment. These materials achieved an average score of 39 out of 100. The score was below 50 for 78% of all materials. There was a significant lack of information on the evidence base of recommendations. Only 9 % of the materials provided full disclosure of their evidence sources. We also found that, despite the poor quality of the materials, 89% of general practitioners regularly make active use of them during consultations with patients. CONCLUSION Based on international standards, the quality of patient information materials available at general practices in Styria is poor. The vast majority of the materials are not suitable as a basis for informed decisions by patients. However, most Styrian general practitioners use written patient information materials on a regular basis in their daily clinical practice. Thus, these materials not only fail to help raise the health literacy of the general population, but may actually undermine efforts to enable patients to make shared informed decisions. To increase health literacy, it is necessary to make high quality, evidence-based and easy-to-understand information material available to patients and the public. For this, it may be necessary to set up a centralized and independent clearinghouse.

中文翻译：

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一般实践中使用的书面患者信息材料未能达到可接受的质量标准。

背景技术患者信息材料和决策辅助工具是帮助患者做出明智决策和分享决策的重要工具。本研究的目的是调查奥地利施蒂利亚州全科诊所提供的书面患者信息材料的质量。方法 我们要求全科医生发送其执业中可用的所有患者信息材料并回答一份简短的调查问卷。我们使用确保患者质量信息 (EQIP-36) 工具评估了这些材料。结果 共有 387 份不同的患者信息材料可用于质量评估。这些材料的平均得分为 39 分（满分 100 分）。78% 的材料得分低于 50 分。严重缺乏有关建议证据基础的信息。只有 9% 的材料充分披露了其证据来源。我们还发现，尽管材料质量较差，但 89% 的全科医生在与患者会诊时经常积极使用它们。结论 根据国际标准，施泰尔马克州全科诊所提供的患者信息材料的质量很差。绝大多数材料不适合作为患者做出明智决定的基础。然而，大多数施蒂里亚全科医生在日常临床实践中定期使用书面患者信息材料。因此，这些材料不仅无法帮助提高普通人群的健康素养，而且实际上可能会破坏让患者做出共同知情决策的努力。为了提高健康素养，有必要向患者和公众提供高质量、循证且易于理解的信息材料。为此，可能有必要建立一个集中且独立的清算所。