PP806 - Examining the Health Literacy of Cochlear Implant Candidate Education Materials

Abstract:
This project aimed to determine the health literacy of cochlear implant candidate educational materials, specifically readability levels. Current literature, and guidance from the National Institute of Health, recommends a reading level of no higher than fourth grade for the general population. Candidate educational materials from 3 cochlear implant companies were reviewed and results revealed all materials had low health literacy for the general population.

Summary:
Health literacy refers to a person's ability to find, read, and understand health information so they can make appropriate choices. Literature suggested that health materials designed for use by the general population should be at a 6th grade reading level. However, educational materials about current cochlear implant technology often have a higher reading level. Cochlear implantation is surgery for people with severe to profound hearing loss. Candidates often use booklets from manufacturers to get information. This study looks at the difficulty level of educational materials about cochlear implants from various manufacturers.

Previously, a study by La Scala et al. (2022) investigated the educational materials from the three cochlear implant manufacturers in the U.S.: Advanced Bionics, Cochlear, and Med El, and found their contents to be higher than a 6th grade reading level. In order to assess the new materials published by these companies and available to current potential CI patients, we opted to re-analyze the current educational materials. The contents of these materials were written out and analyzed overall for each manufacturer, as well as by specific sections identified by the research team. These sections included: 'Manufacturer Information', 'Device & Accessories', 'Hearing Loss & Implantation', 'Support & Services', and 'Glossary & FAQ'. The text was then checked for readability using a commercially available online software, Readable, which uses different scoring methods (including the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level score) to evaluate the readability of text. After scoring all the typed booklets, it was found that the scores from these companies’ educational materials were still higher than the acceptable readability grade level for health literature intended for the general population.

The results of this study show that educational materials from all cochlear implant companies still do not meet the recommended health literacy guidelines. These materials are not appropriately worded for the general population, which could negatively impact potential patients’ decision-making processes in acquiring implants, setting realistic expectations, and achieving success. The results of this study could be further built upon. This could include rewording the educational materials from all three manufacturers could be updated to improve readability while still including the necessary information. Furthermore, more research can be conducted to evaluate other educational materials (website content, user guides etc.) from different manufacturers of patient devices (including hearing aids) to determine the readability of these materials, and to guide any potential changes that can be made to improve them for patient use.