Uptake of Hearing Aids and Hearing Assistive Technology in a Working Population: Longitudinal Analyses of The Netherlands Longitudinal Study on Hearing

Abstract

Objective: To identify predictors of the 5-year uptake of hearing aids (HAs) and hearing assistive technology (HAT) in a sample of Dutch employees eligible for HAs and/or HAT. The potential predictors included demographic factors (age, sex, marital status, and living situation), education, hearing factors (ability to recognize speech in noise and self-reported hearing disability), distress, self-efficacy, and work-related factors (job demand, job control, and need for recovery). Design: Five-year follow-up data of the Netherlands Longitudinal Study on Hearing (NL-SH) collected until January 2019 were included. An online digit-triplet in noise test, the National Hearing Test (NHT), was used to assess speech-recognition-in-noise ability. In addition, online questionnaires on demographic, socioeconomic, self-reported hearing disability, health, and work-related characteristics were administered. Adults who worked over 12 hours per week, who had not yet taken up HAs or HAT, but who would be eligible for HAs/HAT based on their NHT score (insufficient or poor hearing ability), were included in the study. The 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT was defined as a dichotomous variable of self-reported HA/HAT use reported 5 years later. Generalized Estimating Equations analyses were performed to analyze the associations between potential predicting factors and the 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT, taking into account the repeated measurements of the predicting factors and the 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT. Results: Data of 218 participants were included. The cumulative incidence of the 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT was 15 to 33%, of which 52 employees took up HAs and 11 employees took up HAT. Married participants had increased odds for 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT compared with unmarried participants (odds ratio [OR] = 2.13, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05 to 4.35). Higher self-reported hearing disability (per one unit, scale range 0 to 74) was associated with increased odds for 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.07). Job demand showed a significant interaction with sex ( p = 0.002), and therefore, stratified analyses were performed. In male participants, participants with higher job demand scores (per one unit, scale range 12 to 48) had increased odds for 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.35). No difference was seen in females. Conclusion: This study confirms that factors predicting the uptake of HAs/HAT in the general or older populations, including marital status and self-reported hearing disability, also extend to the working population. The identification of job demand as a predictor of the uptake of HAs/HAT (in males only) was a novel finding. It demonstrates the importance of considering work-related factors in aural rehabilitation.

Factors Influencing Hearing Help-Seeking and Hearing Aid Uptake in Adults: A Systematic Review of the Past Decade

“…Two studies reported mixed findings on speech recognition thresholds (SRTs) and their association with hearing aid uptake. Robertson et al (2012) found that people who purchased hearing aids had higher SRTs than those who did not purchase hearing aids, although van Leeuwen et al (2021) reported no association. The SRTs were measured for each ear using monitored live voice and the Central Institute for the Deaf W-1 spondaic word list ( Hirsh et al, 1952 ).…”

“…Six studies reported a positive association between self-reported hearing disability and hearing aid uptake, although five studies reported no association. Five studies used various versions of the Hearing Handicap Inventory ( Fischer et al, 2011 ; Gopinath et al, 2011 ; Saunders et al, 2016 ; Simpson et al, 2019 ; Weycker et al, 2021 ) and one study used the Amsterdam Inventory for Auditory Disability and Handicap ( van Leeuwen et al, 2021 ). Two studies investigated hearing beliefs within the constructs of the HBM ( Saunders et al, 2016 , 2013 ).…”

“…Two studies by Chan et al (2017) and He et al (2018) reported that people were more likely to adopt hearing aids and to adopt them more quickly if they were urban residents compared to rural residents. Whereas four studies reported no association, one study concluded that people were more likely to obtain hearing aids if they were married compared to single ( van Leeuwen et al, 2021 ). One study by van Leeuwen et al (2021) found that males were more likely to take up hearing aids if they perceived higher psychological job demand (i.e., the psychological requirements for an employee's tasks).…”

“…Whereas four studies reported no association, one study concluded that people were more likely to obtain hearing aids if they were married compared to single ( van Leeuwen et al, 2021 ). One study by van Leeuwen et al (2021) found that males were more likely to take up hearing aids if they perceived higher psychological job demand (i.e., the psychological requirements for an employee's tasks).…”

A proposed artificial intelligence-based real-time speech-to-text to sign language translator for South African official languages for the COVID-19 era and beyond: In pursuit of solutions for the hearing impaired

“…Hearing assistive technologies (for instance, frequency modulation and loop systems, telecommunication devices, sign language interpretation, alerting devices and captioning services) have been developed to assist individuals who are hard of hearing (Crandell & Smaldino, 1999 ; Kricos, 2007 ; McPherson, 2014 ; Van Leeuwen et al, 2021 ). With the well-documented limited access to such technologies for large numbers in LMICs, lip-reading and sign language remain key to communication access for the hearing impaired and the deaf.…”