Adapting to New Hearing Aids and Hearing Aid Adjustments in Adult Danish Users

Abstract

Purpose: This study was aimed at understanding the effect of time taken to adapt to the new hearing aids (HAs) and the timeline of HA adjustments performed over more than a year of rehabilitation on self-reported HA outcomes. Method: A self-report of the time it took to get accustomed to the new HAs and adjustment of the HAs during a year of rehabilitation collected from 690 HA users using a nonstandardized questionnaire were analyzed. The abbreviated version of the Speech, Spatial, and Quality of Hearing questionnaire and the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids were used as the self-reported HA outcome. Result: Out of 690 participants, 442 (64%) got accustomed to HAs within 2 months. Ninety-one participants (13%) did not get accustomed to the HAs at all, out of which 74 (81%) were first-time HA users. Eighty-four participants (12%) did not receive any HA adjustments after their initial fitting, and 49 (7%) had their HAs adjusted four or more times during the 1 year of rehabilitation. Three hundred ninety (57%) participants got their HA adjusted only at the 2-month follow-up visit, showing the intent to adjust given an opportunity. The stepwise multiple linear regression results showed the significant impact of getting accustomed to the HA and having HA adjusted at multiple instances on the self-reported HA outcomes. Conclusion: This study showed the importance of getting accustomed to the HA and having a minimal number of adjustments to have a better long-term self-reported HA outcome.

Factors correlated with hearing aids adherence in older adults: a prospective controlled study

“…It is important to emphasise that different factors are related to the successful use of HA such as the degree of hearing loss, motivation, time of device use, typology of HL (like hearing threshold asymmetry), presence of concomitant tinnitus or number of HA adaptations after the first HA use. 28,29 It should also be noted that most of the published literature have been retrospective studies, 5,[13][14][15]26,[30][31][32] whereas this current study was prospective. It is important to note that 10 patients did not answer the telephone interview, so it was not possible to determine if there were some HA users in this sample.…”

“…It is important to emphasise that different factors are related to the successful use of HA such as the degree of hearing loss, motivation, time of device use, typology of HL (like hearing threshold asymmetry), presence of concomitant tinnitus or number of HA adaptations after the first HA use. 28 , 29 …”

“…34 Comorbidities, alteration of cognitive status, difficulties in speech perception and social isolation are just some of the factors that affect older adults with HL. 5,6,25,28,29 Consequently, the quality of life of these patients can be impaired. 31 There is evidence that older adults with HL have a worse quality of life than people without HL.…”