{
  "abstract": "BackgroundPatient Information Leaflets (PILs) are widely used to support verbal communication during orthodontic consent. For a PIL to be effective, it must present information clearly and support patient understanding and recall. A commonly used orthodontic PIL in the UK is the British Orthodontic Societys (BOS) PIL \"Orthodontic Treatment: What are the risks?\".\n\nAim and objectivesTo evaluate this orthodontic PIL, compared to a simpler Designed to Smile PIL, with regards to: 1) Design clarity; 2) Free text comments on the design and content; 3) Knowledge after reading the PIL; 4) Time spent looking at various aspects of the PIL.\n\nMethodsStudents of non-medicine or dentistry programmes viewed the orthodontic PIL electronically with simultaneous eye-tracking. Immediately afterwards, they completed a survey capturing their clarity of design rating, feedback on the design and content, and knowledge of the PIL content. This was repeated for a simpler Designed to Smile PIL.\n\nResults36.8% rated the orthodontic PIL as \"very clear\" compared to 66% for the Designed to Smile PIL. Suggested improvements included breaking-up large blocks of text, using more images, and including descriptions of patient experience. 48.9% (SD = 9.0) of questions were answered correctly regarding content in the orthodontic PIL; significantly lower than the simpler Designed to Smile PIL (80%; SD = 11.3%) (P < 0.001). Eye-tracking indicated that participants spent more time looking at images in the orthodontic PIL (median = 22.2% of time) compared to the Designed to Smile PIL (median = 8.2%) (P < 0.001).\n\nConclusionsO_LIThe Designed to Smile PIL was deemed clearer than the orthodontic PIL. C_LIO_LISuggestions for improvement included using more images and breaking-up large sections of text. C_LIO_LIKnowledge was relatively poor after reading the orthodontic PIL. C_LIO_LIParticipants spent longer looking at the images in the orthodontic PIL compared to the Designed to Smile PIL. C_LI",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Cardiff University"
  ],
  "article_type": "PUBLISHAHEADOFPRINT",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "D. J. J. Farnell"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. Galloway"
    },
    {
      "name": "A. J. Kho"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f3bkhtc4v1c4v.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.25.26366089",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.25.26366089v1.full",
  "id": "f3bkhtc4v1c4v",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.25.26366089v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "medrxiv",
      "dentistry and oral medicine"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3600|Health Literacy and Information Accessibility"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223706053",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.25.26366089v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-25",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f3bkhtc4v1c4v.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:46Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.25.26366089",
      "source": "medrxiv",
      "url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.25.26366089v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "medrxiv:dentistry and oral medicine",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The design of an orthodontic patient information leaflet: a cross-sectional, mixed methods study involving surveys, a knowledge test and eye-tracking",
  "title_text": "The design of an orthodontic patient information leaflet: a cross-sectional, mixed methods study involving surveys, a knowledge test and eye-tracking",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:21:46Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f3bkhtc4v1c4v",
  "venue": "medRxiv",
  "versions": []
}