Marsha Cohen

Prof. Marsha Cohen

UC Hastings College of the Law

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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20 February 2021 in Healthcare
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
AZAgnieszka Zimmermann
Agnieszka Zimmermann
APAnna Pilarska
Anna Pilarska
Aleksandra Gaworska-KrzemińskaAleksandra Gaworska-Krzemińska
Aleksandra Gaworska-Krzemińska
JJJerzy Jankau
Jerzy Jankau
MCMarsha Cohen
Marsha Cohen
Background: Informed consent is important in clinical practice, as a person’s written consent is required prior to many medical interventions. Many informed consent forms fail to communicate simply and clearly. The aim of our study was to create an easy-to-understand form. Methods: Our assessment of a Polish-language plastic surgery informed consent form used the Polish-language comprehension analysis program (jasnopis.pl, SWPS University) to assess the readability of texts written for people of various education levels; and this enabled us to modify the form by shortening sentences and simplifying words. The form was re-assessed with the same software and subsequently given to 160 adult volunteers to assess the revised form’s degree of difficulty or readability. Results: The first software analysis found the language was suitable for people with a university degree or higher education, and after revision and re-assessment became suitable for persons with 4–6 years of primary school education and above. Most study participants also assessed the form as completely comprehensible. Conclusions: There are significant benefits possible for patients and practitioners by improving the comprehensibility of written informed consent forms.