Skip to main content

Table 2 Comparison of linguistic variables and readability level across different Cochrane Review Networks

From: Conclusiveness, linguistic characteristics and readability of Cochrane plain language summaries of intervention reviews: a cross-sectional study

 

Cochrane networks Md (95% CI)*

P*

Abdomen and Endocrine (n = 492)

Acute and Emergency Care (n = 354)

Cancer (n = 239)

Children and Families (n = 1046)

Circulation and Breathing (n = 598)

Mental Health and Neuroscience (n = 668)

Musculoskeletal, Oral, Skin and Sensory (n = 646)

Public Health and Health Systems (n = 317)

SMOG index

15.6 (15.5 to 15.8)

14.7 (14.4 to 14.9) a

15.0 (14.7 to 15.4) a

14.8 (14.6 to 14.9) a

14.7 (14.5 to 14.8) a

15.4 (15.2 to 15.5)

14.5 (14.3 to 14.4) a

15.1 (14.8 to 15.2) a

< 0.001

Analytic

95.8 (95.6 to 96.2) d

95.7 (95.1 to 96.1) d

94.9 (94.2 to 95.3)

95.1 (94.8 to 95.4) d

95.7 (95.3 to 95.9) d

94.0 (93.6 to 94.5)

94.8 (94.4 to 95.3)

93.2 (92.1 to 93.8)

< 0.001

Clout

48.4 (47.3 to 49.7) c

54.2 (52.4 to 55.8) ac

52.7 (50.0 to 54.2) ac

58.1 (57.0 to 59.1) a

53.3 (52.4 to 54.3) ac

55.5 (54.4 to 56.4) ac

51 (50.0 to 52.5) ac

58.1 (56.6 to 59.9)a

< 0.001

Authentic

22.9 (20.8 to 24.4) c

27.7 (25.8 to 29.7) a

24.8 (22.2 to 27.2) c

30.0 (28.7 to 31.8) a

25.0 (24.0 to 26.4) c

23.2 (21.6 to 24.8) c

27.1 (25.2 to 28.3) ac

31.1 (27.8 to 33.1) a

< 0.001

Tone

17.7 (15.0 to 19.6) e

14.4 (12.2 to 16.9) e

17.9 (15.4 to 21.7) e

17.7 (15.9 to 19.7) e

17.4 (15.4 to 20.0) e

19.7 (17.5 to 22.4) e

14.5 (12.6 to 16.5) e

34.6 (25.8 to 39.3) e

< 0.001

Word count

313 (295 to 330) b

366 (340 to 383) c

392 (366 to 401) c

294 (282 to 304) b

308 (296 to 324) b

322 (306 to 338) bc

392 (378 to 406) bc

344 (329 to 369) c

< 0.001

  1. Md Median, CI Confidence interval, SMOG Simple Measure of Gobbledygook
  2. *Kruskal Wallis nonparametric test with Dunn post hoc comparison
  3. aSignificantly different from Abdomen and Endocrine Network and Cancer Network
  4. bSignificantly different from Cancer network and Musculoskeletal, Oral, Skin and Sensory Network
  5. c Significantly different from Children and Families network
  6. dSignificantly different from Mental Health and Neuroscience group and Public Health and Health Systems
  7. eSignificantly different than Public Health and Health Systems