Hearing Aid Patient Education Materials: Is There Room for Improvement?
The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare the readability of patient education materials (PEMs) from leading manufacturers of behind-the-ear style hearing aids and popular hearing aid information Web sites to determine if they meet guidelines recommended by public health agencies.



Analysis of hearing aid PEMs.



Printed user guides from six of the leading manufacturers of BTE hearing aids and 15 of the most popular hearing aid-information Web sites were accessed online and analyzed for readability using the Gunning-Fog Index, New Fog Count, Raygor Estimate Graph, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, and Flesch Reading Ease score.



Overall average grade-level readability for all six printed manufacturer user manuals was calculated to be written at a 10th grade reading level. Overall average grade-level readabilities for all 15 popular online hearing aid-information Web sites representing professional organizations, suppliers, and health information services were calculated to be written at 10th, 10th, and 11th grade reading levels, respectively. Average Flesch Reading Ease scores for all printed guides and online patient information Web sites were calculated to fall within the fairly difficult category for readability.



PEMs provided by top hearing aid manufactures and popular hearing aid Web sites are written well above the reading level recommended by the National Institutes of Health. Consideration should be given toward simplifying these materials in order to enhance user experience and increase compliance among behind-the-ear hearing aid users.
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI.
John
J
Joseph
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI.
Peter F
PF
Svider
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ.
Kevin
K
Shaigany
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ.|Department of Neurological Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ.|Center for Skull Base and Pituitary Surgery, Neurological Institute of New Jersey, Newark, NJ.
Jean Anderson
JA
Eloy
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI.|Michigan Ear Institute, Farmington Hills, MI.
Paulette G
PG
McDonald
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI.|Department of Neurosurgery, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI.
Adam J
AJ
Folbe
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI.|Michigan Ear Institute, Farmington Hills, MI.
Robert S
RS
Hong
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D032882:Comprehension; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000592:standards; D060345:Education of Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000592:standards*; D057220:Health Literacy; D006310:Hearing Aids; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D013664:Teaching Materials / Q000592:standards*; D064878:Web Browser