TY - JOUR T1 - Can the written information to research subjects be improved?--an empirical study. JF - Journal of Medical Ethics JO - J Med Ethics SP - 263 LP - 267 DO - 10.1136/jme.25.3.263 VL - 25 IS - 3 AU - E Bjørn AU - P Rossel AU - S Holm Y1 - 1999/06/01 UR - http://jme.bmj.com/content/25/3/263.abstract N2 - OBJECTIVES: To study whether linguistic analysis and changes in information leaflets can improve readability and understanding. DESIGN: Randomised, controlled study. Two information leaflets concerned with trials of drugs for conditions/diseases which are commonly known were modified, and the original was tested against the revised version. SETTING: Denmark. PARTICIPANTS: 235 persons in the relevant age groups. MAIN MEASURES: Readability and understanding of contents. RESULTS: Both readability and understanding of contents was improved: readability with regard to both information leaflets and understanding with regard to one of the leaflets. CONCLUSION: The results show that both readability and understanding can be improved by increased attention to the linguistic features of the information. ER -