Measuring Hearing Aid Outcomes Using the Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life (SADL) Questionnaire: Australian Data

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (06) ◽  
pp. 383-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Uriarte ◽  
Lauren Denzin ◽  
Amy Dunstan ◽  
Jillian Sellars ◽  
Louise Hickson

The aims of this study were to investigate hearing aid satisfaction for a group of older Australians fitted with government-funded hearing aids using the Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life (SADL) questionnaire; to compare the Australian data gathered with the provisional normative data reported by Cox and Alexander (1999); and to investigate the relationship between SADL satisfaction and several participant variables, hearing aid variables, and other outcome measures.The SADL questionnaire and a Client Satisfaction Survey (CSS) were distributed by mail to 1284 adults fitted with government-funded hearing aids three to six months previously. 1014 surveys were returned. The mean age of participants was 75.32 years; 54.4% of participants were male, and 54.8% were fitted binaurally. Participants were fitted primarily with digitally programmable hearing aids of various styles (22.5% BTEs, 34.8% ITEs, 41.8% ITCs, 0.9% nonstandard [NS] devices).Overall, participants reported a considerable level of satisfaction with their devices. SADL Global and subscale scores were significantly higher for the Australian sample than the U.S. norms described by Cox and Alexander (1999).

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Kelly-Campbell ◽  
Anna McMillan

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy for hearing aids (HAs) and satisfaction with HAs in a group of adult HA owners. Method Forty-seven adults acquiring HAs (new and experienced owners) completed a demographic questionnaire, the Hearing Handicap Questionnaire (Gatehouse & Noble, 2004), and received an audiometric evaluation prior to HA fitting. Twelve weeks following the completion of the HA fitting, they completed the Measure of Audiologic Rehabilitation Self-Efficacy for Hearing Aids (Smith & West, 2006) and the Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life (Cox & Alexander, 1999) questionnaires. Results There were no significant differences between experienced and new HA owners in terms of self-efficacy or HA satisfaction. The majority of participants had adequate self-efficacy for basic HA handling and adjustment to HAs. Fewer participants had adequate self-efficacy for aided listening and advanced handling of HAs. HA self-efficacy was related to HA satisfaction in three domains: positive effect and negative features of HAs and service and cost. Conclusion Many HA owners do not have adequate self-efficacy in important HA-related domains. Clinical intervention to improve self-efficacy for HAs may help improve HA satisfaction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Luis Roque dos Reis ◽  
Mariana Donato ◽  
Rita Sousa ◽  
Pedro Alberto Escada

Introduction: The scale Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life uses a simple and easily administered questionnaire to evaluate the adaptation of individuals to their hearing aids. The objective of this study is to validate the scale for European Portuguese speakers, by means of translation and cultural adaptation of the questionnaire. The study includes an evaluation of reproducibility and a description of the results of the administration of the questionnaire to patients fitted with hearing aids.Material and Methods: We invited 147 individuals fitted with hearing aids (uni- or bilateral) to participate in the study. Participants had used a hearing aid for at least six weeks and were patients of the Department of Otolaryngology at the Egas Moniz Hospital (Lisbon). The consent as well the guidelines for translation from and into the English language were obtained from the author of the scale, and the translation from and into, and cultural adaptation were carried out, along with an evaluation of reproducibility and internal consistency.Results: The participants were 54% male and 46% female, aged between 16 and 93 (66.09 ± 17.41 years). The results of the study showed an overall level of satisfaction of 5.4 among hearing aids users. The sub-scale satisfaction levels were: positive effects 5.88, service and cost 5.25, negative effects 4.24, and self-image 5.57. The Cronbach α score was 0.75 which indicates good internal consistency. Furthermore, the questionnaire’s overall and sub-scale average scores did not differ significantly from the results obtained under the American scale. The inter-examiner reproducibility was also good.Discussion: This study provides reliable results of the scale for the Portuguese of Portugal and adequate internal consistency, with significant age variability in the sample.Conclusion: This adaptation of the Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life questionnaire for European Portuguese speakers should be considered a good tool for evaluation of the level of satisfaction of hearing aid users, and until now, is the only available scale for speakers of European Portuguese.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Convery ◽  
Gitte Keidser ◽  
Louise Hickson ◽  
Carly Meyer

Purpose Hearing loss self-management refers to the knowledge and skills people use to manage the effects of hearing loss on all aspects of their daily lives. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-reported hearing loss self-management and hearing aid benefit and satisfaction. Method Thirty-seven adults with hearing loss, all of whom were current users of bilateral hearing aids, participated in this observational study. The participants completed self-report inventories probing their hearing loss self-management and hearing aid benefit and satisfaction. Correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationship between individual domains of hearing loss self-management and hearing aid benefit and satisfaction. Results Participants who reported better self-management of the effects of their hearing loss on their emotional well-being and social participation were more likely to report less aided listening difficulty in noisy and reverberant environments and greater satisfaction with the effect of their hearing aids on their self-image. Participants who reported better self-management in the areas of adhering to treatment, participating in shared decision making, accessing services and resources, attending appointments, and monitoring for changes in their hearing and functional status were more likely to report greater satisfaction with the sound quality and performance of their hearing aids. Conclusion Study findings highlight the potential for using information about a patient's hearing loss self-management in different domains as part of clinical decision making and management planning.


1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 362-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna M. Risberg ◽  
Robyn M. Cox

A custom in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aid fitting was compared to two over-the-ear (OTE) hearing aid fittings for each of 9 subjects with mild to moderately severe hearing losses. Speech intelligibility via the three instruments was compared using the Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) test. The relationship between functional gain and coupler gain was compared for the ITE and the higher rated OTE instruments. The difference in input received at the microphone locations of the two types of hearing aids was measured for 10 different subjects and compared to the functional gain data. It was concluded that (a) for persons with mild to moderately severe hearing losses, appropriately adjusted custom ITE fittings typically yield speech intelligibility that is equal to the better OTE fitting identified in a comparative evaluation; and (b) gain prescriptions for ITE hearing aids should be adjusted to account for the high-frequency emphasis associated with in-the-concha microphone placement.


1972 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hedda Aufricht

A recent development in hearing aids, the contralateral routing of signals (CROS), makes it possible to provide amplification for persons with unilateral hearing loss. In 1967, a CROS eyeglass hearing aid was placed on government contract and made available to veterans. To study the efficiency of the CROS, a follow-up questionnaire was sent to 60 male veterans who had been fitted with this aid. All had demonstrated unilateral hearing losses, and the mean threshold for the speech frequencies (500–2000 Hz) in the good ear was 24 dB. The 54 replies (90%) indicated that 85% wore the aid, liked it, and derived benefit from it; 15% neither liked nor wore the aid. The CROS appeared to be most helpful in listening to conversational speech and at work, and most disturbing in a noisy environment. The complaints about the aid fell into major categories: 33% objected to its poor fit and construction and 11% were disturbed by speech distortion. The CROS aid has been a useful addition to the hearing-aid stock at the clinic reported here. It has expanded the program by providing amplification to veterans who could not be fitted with the conventional stock of aids.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-39
Author(s):  
Mariya Yu. Boboshko ◽  
Irina P. Berdnikova ◽  
Natalya V. Maltzeva

Objectives -to determine the normative data of sentence speech intelligibility in a free sound field and to estimate the applicability of the Russian Matrix Sentence test (RuMatrix) for assessment of the hearing aid fitting benefit. Material and methods. 10 people with normal hearing and 28 users of hearing aids with moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss were involved in the study. RuMatrix test both in quiet and in noise was performed in a free sound field. All patients filled in the COSI questionnaire. Results. The hearing impaired patients were divided into two subgroups: the 1st with high and the 2nd with low hearing aid benefit, according to the COSI questionnaire. In the 1st subgroup, the threshold for the sentence intelligibility in quiet was 34.9 ± 6.4 dB SPL, and in noise -3.3 ± 1.4 dB SNR, in the 2nd subgroup 41.7 ± 11.5 dB SPL and 0.15 ± 3.45 dB SNR, respectively. The significant difference between the data of both subgroups and the norm was registered (p


1980 ◽  
Vol 89 (5_suppl) ◽  
pp. 79-83
Author(s):  
Richard Lippmann

Following the Harvard master hearing aid study in 1947 there was little research on linear amplification. Recently, however, there have been a number of studies designed to determine the relationship between the frequency-gain characteristic of a hearing aid and speech intelligibility for persons with sensorineural hearing loss. These studies have demonstrated that a frequency-gain characteristic that rises at a rate of 6 dB/octave, as suggested by the Harvard study, is not optimal. They have also demonstrated that high-frequency emphasis of 10–40 dB above 500–1000 Hz is beneficial. Most importantly, they have demonstrated that hearing aids as they are presently being fit do not provide maximum speech intelligibility. Percent word correct scores obtained with the best frequency-gain characteristics tested in various studies have been found to be 9 to 19 percentage points higher than scores obtained with commercial aids owned by subjects. This increase in scores is equivalent to an increase in signal-to-noise ratio of 10 to 20 dB. This is a significant increase which could allow impaired listeners to communicate in many situations where they presently cannot. These results demonstrate the need for further research on linear amplification aimed at developing practical suggestions for fitting hearing aids.


2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (03) ◽  
pp. 247-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laya Poost-Foroosh ◽  
Mary Beth Jennings ◽  
Margaret F. Cheesman

Background: Despite clinical recognition of the adverse effects of acquired hearing loss, only a small proportion of adults who could benefit use hearing aids. Hearing aid adoption has been studied in relationship to client-related and hearing aid technology–related factors. The influence of the client-clinician interaction in the decision to purchase hearing aids has not been explored in any depth. Purpose: Importance ratings of a sample of adults having a recent hearing aid recommendation (clients) and hearing healthcare professionals (clinicians) from across Canada were compared on factors in client-clinician interactions that influence hearing aid purchase decisions. Research Design: A cross-sectional approach was used to obtain online and paper-based concept ratings. Data Collection and Analysis: Participants were 43 adults (age range, 45–85 yr) who had received a first hearing aid recommendation in the 3 mo before participation. A total of 54 audiologists and 20 hearing instrument practitioners from a variety of clinical settings who prescribed or dispensed hearing aids completed the concept-rating task. The task consisted of 122 items that had been generated via concept mapping in a previous study and which resulted in the identification of eight concepts that may influence hearing aid purchase decisions. Participants rated “the importance of each of the statements in a person’s decision to purchase a hearing aid” on a 5-point Likert scale, from 1 = minimally important to 5 = extremely important. For the initial data analysis, the ratings for each of the items included in each concept were averaged for each participant to provide an estimate of the overall importance rating of each concept. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to compare the mean importance ratings of the clients to the clinicians. Ratings of individual statements were also compared in order to investigate the directionality of the importance ratings within concepts. Results: There was a significant difference in the mean ratings for clients and clinicians for the concepts understanding and meeting client needs, conveying device information by clinician, supporting choices and shared decision making, and factors in client readiness. Three concepts—understanding and meeting client needs, conveying device information by clinician, and supporting choices and shared decision making—were rated as more important by clients than by clinicians. One concept (ie, factors in client readiness) was rated as more important by clinicians than by clients. Conclusions: The concepts rated as most important by clients and clinicians are consistent with components of several existing models of client-centered and patient-centered care. These concepts reflect the clients’ perception of the importance of their involvement in the decision-making process. A preliminary model of client-centered care within the hearing aid uptake process and implications for clinical audiology are described.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (06) ◽  
pp. 374-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherri L. Smith ◽  
Colleen M. Noe ◽  
Genevieve C. Alexander

Background: The International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) was developed as a global hearing aid outcome measure targeting seven outcome domains. The published norms were based on a private-pay sample who were fitted with analog hearing aids. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the IOI-HA and to establish normative data in a veteran sample. Research Design: Survey. Study Sample: The participants were 131 male veterans (mean age of 74.3 years, SD = 7.4) who were issued hearing aids with digital signal processing (DSP). Intervention: Hearing aids with DSP that were fitted bilaterally between 2005 and 2007. Data Collection and Analysis: Veterans were mailed two copies of the IOI-HA. The participants were instructed to complete the first copy of the questionnaire immediately and the second copy in two weeks. The completed questionnaires were mailed to the laboratory. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire were evaluated. As suggested by Cox and colleagues, the participants were divided into two categories based on their unaided subjective hearing difficulty. The two categories were (1) those with less hearing difficulty (none-to-moderate category) and (2) those who report more hearing difficulty (moderately severe+ category). The norms from the current veteran sample then were compared to the original, published sample. For each hearing difficulty category, the critical difference values were calculated for each item and for the total score. Results: A factor analysis showed that the IOI-HA in the veteran sample had the identical subscale structure as reported in the original sample. For the total scale, the internal consistency was good (Chronbach's α = 0.83), and the test–retest reliability was high (λ = 0.94). Group and individual norms were developed for both hearing difficulty categories in the veteran sample. For each IOI-HA item, the critical difference scores were <1.0. This finding suggests that for any item on the IOI-HA, there is a 95 percent chance that an observed change of one response unit between two test sessions reflects a true change in outcome for a given domain. Conclusions: The results of this study confirmed that the psychometric properties of the IOI-HA questionnaire are strong and are essentially the same for the veteran sample and the original private-pay sample. The veteran norms, however, produced higher outcomes than those established originally, possibly because of differences in the population samples and/or hearing aid technology. Clinical and research applications of the current findings are presented. Based on the results from the current study, the norms established here should replace the original norms for use in veterans with current hearing aid technology.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cliff Franklin ◽  
Laura V. Johnson ◽  
Letitia White ◽  
Clay Franklin ◽  
Laura Smith-Olinde

Objectives. This study examined the relationship between acceptable noise level (ANL) and personality. ANL is the difference between a person’s most comfortable level for speech and the loudest level of background noise they are willing to accept while listening to speech. Design. Forty young adults with normal hearing participated. ANLs were measured and two personality tests (Big Five Inventory, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) were administered. Results. The analysis revealed a correlation between ANL and the openness and conscientious personality dimensions from the Big Five Inventory; no correlation emerged between ANL and the Myers-Briggs personality types. Conclusions. Lower ANLs are correlated with full-time hearing aid use and the openness personality dimension; higher ANLs are correlated with part-time or hearing aid nonuse and the conscientious personality dimension. Current data suggest that those more open to new experiences may accept more noise and possibly be good hearing aid candidates, while those more conscientious may accept less noise and reject hearing aids, based on their unwillingness to accept background noise. Knowing something about a person’s personality type may help audiologists determine if their patients will likely be good candidates for hearing aids.


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