Comprehension of informed consent information by young-old through old-old volunteers

Comprehension of typewritten informed consent information was evaluated for young-old (60-69 years) through old-old (80-89 years) volunteers as a function of years of education (less than 12, 12, and greater than 12), readability of information (low [college level] vs high [7th grade]), and typeface used in the preparation of the materials (Prestige Elite 72, Letter Gothic, and Orator). All volunteers (N = 235) read a typewritten information sheet and retained it for review while answering eight multiple choice questions. Immediate feedback was provided, and a second test was administered if any answers were incorrect. The findings indicated that comprehension varied directly with education and inversely with age. Typeface and age interacted due to age-related differences with the two smaller (Prestige Elite and Letter Gothic), but not with the largest of the typefaces (Orator). These findings suggest that the observed age-related differences may have been due to visual and not cognitive deficits. Readability did not affect performance either by itself or in combination with any other variable.