Spanish-language hearing aid user guides (Gaeta et al., 2021)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the readability and suitability of Spanish-language hearing aid user guides.

Method: Hearing aid user guides in English and Spanish were downloaded for analysis. Readability for the English guides was calculated using the Flesch Reading Ease Scale and the Flesch–Kincaid Readability Formula, and readability for the Spanish guides was calculated using the Fernandez–Huerta and Spaulding Formula and Fry Graph. The Suitability Assessment of Materials was used to rate the suitability of each Spanish and English pair of hearing aid user guides.

Results: Of the nine manufacturers that had materials available in English, only five had guides available in Spanish. Although readability for the Spanish and English user guides was similar, both guides were written, on average, at the eighth grade level. Suitability for the analyzed Spanish and English user guides was 78% and 80%, respectively.

Conclusions: Spanish-language hearing aid user guides were lacking in readability and suitability. Given that patients with limited proficiency in English, including the Hispanic population, are at risk for low health literacy, providers and manufacturers are encouraged to create more Spanish-language materials. User guides in both languages would benefit from revisions to improve readability and suitability.

Supplemental Material S1. SAM scores for each rater.

Gaeta, L., Garcia, E., & Gonzalez, V. (2021). Readability and suitability of Spanish-language hearing aid user guides. American Journal of Audiology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_AJA-20-00215