Changes in hearing aid use over the past 20 years

Abstract

The aim of this study was to find out how the use of hearing aids has been affected by the changes in hearing rehabilitation, hearing aids and society over the past 20 years. Seventy-six first-time hearing aid users were interviewed at their homes, and the results were compared with those of an earlier study made with the same method in 1983 in Finland involving both new and experienced hearing aid users. Hearing aid use and handling skills as well as satisfaction with the hearing aid were explored with interviews using the same questions in both studies. The number of first-time hearing aid users who did not use their hearing aids had decreased from 33.3% in 1983 to 5.3% at the present. Conversely, the number of regular users rose from 40.9 to 56.6%. The use of hearing aids was increased. The users were better able use their hearing aids and were more satisfied with them and the number of those who considered the counseling provided sufficient had also increased.

Survey on hearing aid outcome in Switzerland: Associations with type of fitting (bilateral/unilateral), level of hearing aid signal processing, and hearing loss

“…Compared to the results of studies from other countries, use, satisfaction and management rates for unilaterally fitted persons and owners of simple devices must be still considered excellent (Dillon et al, 1999;Lupsakko and Kautiainen, 2005;Parving, 2003;Smeeth et al, 2002;Smith et al, 2005;Stark and Hickson, 2004;Stephens et al, 2001;Stock et al, 1997;Uriarte et al, 2005;Vuorialho et al, 2006). It appears that the Swiss hearing aid dispensing model with a careful comparative fitting and continued counselling after the initial fitting has contributed substantially to the high regular-use, satisfaction and management rates regardless of the signal processing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 are not limited to the degree of hearing loss but include non-audiometric factors such as the handicap resulting from hearing loss, may also have contributed to the results.…”

Applying the COM-B behaviour model and behaviour change wheel to develop an intervention to improve hearing-aid use in adult auditory rehabilitation

“…Despite evidence that hearing-aid use can ameliorate some of the negative consequences of hearing loss (Chisolm et al, 2004;Chisolm & Arnold, 2012;Mulrow et al, 1990), the charity Action On Hearing Loss estimate that, although 2 million people in the UK have hearing aids, only 1.4 million use them regularly. This is supported by surveys of hearing-aid use with estimates of non-use varying from 5-40% (Gimsing, 2008;Hougaard & Ruf, 2011;Kochkin, 2000;Lupsakko et al, 2005;Smeeth et al, 2002;Vuorialho et al, 2006). Thus, the behaviour of interest in this case is the regular, long-term use of hearing aids by adults with acquired hearing loss.…”

Improving Collaborative Behaviour Planning in Adult Auditory Rehabilitation: Development of the I-PLAN Intervention Using the Behaviour Change Wheel

“…We identified several individual studies reporting rates of hearing aid use and non-use [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] and two recent systematic reviews that summarise reported reasons for non-use [26,27]. We used the COM-B model to categorise reasons for non-use reported in these reviews.…”

“…The low level of uptake of hearing healthcare services represents a public health issue which we felt others were better able to address. Estimates of hearing aid non-use amongst adults with acquired hearing loss vary from 5 to 40 % [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. The true extent of non-use is open to debate since different methods of data collection and different lengths of follow-up cloud the picture.…”

“…The standard management for adult onset hearing loss, at least in the developed world, is hearing aid fitting [5]. Most people fitted with hearing aids have autonomy over whether they are used or not, and research suggests up to 40 % of people who are fitted with hearing aids do not wear them [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. In addition to the negative impacts on patients such as depression, cognitive decline and reduced quality of life [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25], this represents an inefficient use of audiologists' time and a considerable waste of resources especially in health economies where hearing aids are provided by the state.…”