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Original Article

The impact of health literacy on patient understanding of counseling and education materials

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Pages 71-75 | Received 22 Apr 2009, Accepted 21 Aug 2009, Published online: 15 Feb 2010
 

Abstract

Abstract

Low health literacy is reported to have negative consequences on patient understanding of health-related information; however, there is a dearth of research regarding health literacy in an audiology-specific context. This study examines the grade level of language used in verbal and written communication samples during routine hearing aid orientation appointments. Patient counseling sessions were videotaped and transcribed; hearing aid instruction guides used during counseling sessions were also transcribed. The Flesch-Kincaid grade level formula was used to determine the approximate United States grade level equivalent of the counseling sessions, hearing aid instruction guides, and to predict patient health literacy. The results indicate that patient predicted health literacy likely impacts understanding of both one-on-one counseling and hearing aid instruction guides.

Sumario

Los bajos conocimientos en salud se reportan como causantes de consecuencias negativas en la comprensión de la información relacionada con la salud; no obstante, son escasas las investigaciones dirigidas a los conocimientos en salud en el contexto audiológico específico. Este estudio examina el nivel de lenguaje usado en muestras de comunicación verbal y escrita obtenidas durante citas rutinarias de orientación sobre auxiliares auditivos. Las sesiones de asesoría a pacientes se videograbaron y transcribieron; las guías de instrucción sobre auxiliares auditivos usadas en estas sesiones, también fueron transcritas. Se usó la fórmula de niveles de Flesch-Kincaid para determinar el equivalente aproximado en los Estados Unidos, de las sesiones de asesoría y las guías de instrucción de auxiliares auditivos y para predecir los conocimientos en salud de los pacientes. Los resultados indican que los conocimientos sobre salud que en ellos se pueden predecir, impactan la comprensión tanto de la asesoría personal, como de las guías de instrucción de auxiliares auditivos.

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank the clinicians and subjects for their participation in this study.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

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