High General Health Literacy Does Not Ensure Hearing Loss Health Literacy in Mothers of Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to characterize general health literacy and hearing loss health literacy for mothers of children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). Participants included 25 mothers of 2-year-old and 3-year-old children who had a diagnosis of permanent, bilateral hearing loss for at least 1 year. Measures of general health literacy and hearing loss health literacy were collected. Results indicated that mothers had high general health literacy but had lower hearing loss health literacy skills than expected. Although mothers had high education and experience of at least 1 year of having a child with hearing loss, performance on hearing loss health literacy measures was low. Caregiver understanding of hearing loss terminology and concepts is essential for decision making regarding their child's hearing loss health care.