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Mammologix Toolbox

The PEMAT Scoring Instrument

Rate a patient education material against the AHRQ Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool, one item at a time. The instrument keeps the denominator honest, scores both domains live, and returns a remediation list rather than just a number.

Instrument source
AHRQ PEMAT and User's Guide
Content last reviewed Nov 2020
Domain 1

Understandability

A material is understandable when people of diverse backgrounds and varying levels of health literacy can process and explain its key messages.

Domain 2

Actionability

A material is actionable when people of diverse backgrounds and varying levels of health literacy can identify what they can do based on the information presented.

Set up the review

Mammologix commentary is ON Each item carries a Mammologix note applying the criterion to breast imaging materials, plus MQSA context where the regulation bears on the item. This commentary is not AHRQ content. Switch it off to score against the unmodified instrument.
Before you rate: the six rules that decide whether your scores mean anything
  1. Read or view the whole material first. Rate from the finished piece, not from a skim.
  2. Agree means nearly always. Rate Agree when the characteristic holds throughout the material, roughly 80 percent of the time or better. If there are obvious places where the characteristic could have been met and was not, rate Disagree.
  3. Do not skip items. Every item gets Agree, Disagree, or, only where the option exists, Not Applicable.
  4. Not Applicable is not a neutral score. It removes the item from the denominator entirely. Use it only where the instrument offers it and the stated condition is genuinely true.
  5. Judge only what is in the material. Set aside what you personally know about the subject. Rate what a patient would actually receive.
  6. Rate each item independently. Do not let one rating pull another along, and do not compare against the last material you reviewed.

Understandability

Actionability

Results open when the review is complete

The PEMAT produces a percentage, so a partial review produces a misleading percentage. Rate every item, including the Not Applicable calls, and the full interpretation appears here.