Readability of Audiology-Related Patient Education Materials on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Website.

Purpose: This study examined whether audiology-related patient education materials (PEMs) on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) website align with the fifth-grade reading level recommended by health literacy experts. Method: A readability analysis of 13 PEMs was conducted using...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups Vol. 10; no. 5; pp. 1449 - 1458
Autores principales: Phillips, Anna, Zraick, Richard I.
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Oct2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=188539614&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 188539614
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        2381473X
        KTSD
      jtl: Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups
      issn: 2381473X
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Oct2025
      vid: 10
      iid: 5
      pid: 42
      pub: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
      place: Rockville, Maryland
    artinfo:
      ui:
        188539614
        188539614
        188539614
        10.1044/2025_PERSP-25-00059
        188539614
      ppf: 1449
      ppct: 9
      formats:
        fmt:
          @attributes:
            type: P
      tig:
        atl: Readability of Audiology-Related Patient Education Materials on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Website.
      aug:
        au:
          Phillips, Anna
          Zraick, Richard I.
        affil: School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Health Professions and Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando
      sug:
        subj:
          Health Literacy
          Patient Education
          Audiology
          Readability
          Educational Status
          Internet
          World Wide Web
          American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Scales
          Communicative Disorders Therapy
          Hearing Disorders
          Consumer Health Information
          Communication
          Attitude to Health
          Surveys
          Cross Sectional Studies
          Software
          United States
          Public Health
          Health Services Accessibility
          Health Promotion
          Health Education
          Male
          Female
      ab: Purpose: This study examined whether audiology-related patient education materials (PEMs) on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) website align with the fifth-grade reading level recommended by health literacy experts. Method: A readability analysis of 13 PEMs was conducted using a commercially available software program and four common readability formulas: the Flesch Reading Ease Score, Flesch--Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning Fog Index, and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook index. Results: The readability score for all online PEMs exceeded the recommended fifth-grade reading level. On average, the materials require at least a high school reading grade level for comprehension. Conclusions: Despite health literacy guidelines, audiology-related PEMs on the ASHA website are written above the recommended reading grade level, which may hinder patient understanding of hearing health information. These findings highlight the need for revising ASHA online audiology PEMs to improve accessibility and patient comprehension.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N