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 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.