Development and validation of the Health Visual Information Preference Scale.

Initial evidence suggests the Health VIPS has good psychometric properties. This scale could identify patients who would benefit from additional visual aids when receiving health information. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Poor comprehension of health information can lead to misunderstandings of illness and treatment, and potentially non-adherence. It is likely that patients have distinct preferences for how they would choose to receive health information, including information format. Visual health information is becoming more widely used to communicate information about health and illness to patients, although there is no measure to identify those who prefer this information format to standard written health materials. What does this study add? This study describes the first scale to assess preferences for visual health information. This scale could identify patients who would benefit from supplementary visual information in consultations.