Comparative Evaluation of Text and Audio Simplification: A Methodological Replication Study

Area of Science:

• Health Communication
• Information Science
• Multimedia Learning

Background:

• Healthcare information is increasingly disseminated through multimedia, including audio.
• Text simplification has shown promise in improving comprehension of written health information.
• The impact of text simplification on audio-based healthcare information requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To methodologically replicate Leroy et al.'s (2022) study on text simplification and healthcare comprehension.
• To evaluate the effect of text simplification on perceived and actual comprehension of audio healthcare content.
• To explore the influence of education and language proficiency on healthcare audio comprehension.

Main Methods:

• Replication of Leroy et al. (2022) with 44 participants.
• Assessment of healthcare information comprehension from audio generated from original and simplified texts.
• Analysis of perceived and actual difficulty and comprehension levels.

Main Results:

• Text simplification significantly enhanced perceived understandability of healthcare audio.
• Simplified text also led to improved actual comprehension of healthcare information presented as audio.
• Education level and language proficiency were identified as factors influencing comprehension.

Conclusions:

• Text simplification is effective in improving the understandability and comprehension of audio healthcare information.
• Findings align with previous research on text simplification, extending it to the audio domain.
• Tailored communication strategies are needed to enhance health literacy across diverse populations.