Journal of Communication Disorders, Deaf Studies & Hearing Aids
Open Access
ISSN: 2375-4427
ISSN: 2375-4427
Feryale El Molla
Posters-Accepted Abstracts: Commun Disord Deaf Stud Hearing Aids
360,000000 people have disabling hearing loss (HL) (WHO, 2015) and hearing aids (HAs) are the tools for aural rehabilitation (AR).
In the UK, approximately 2 million people wears HAs however only 1.4 million uses them regularly. Non-use of HAs remains high
(15-20%) despite the introduction of digital HAs and advanced technology. There are many suggested reasons for this issue. One is
information retention. The study was designed to assess what patient’s remember from their first-time HAs fitting and investigate
whether information retention is associated with HAs use, benefit and satisfaction employing GHABP Q2&4 to evaluate AR. A
controlled clinical trial of an opportunistic sample of first-time HAs fitting patients (n=40) recruited from Nottingham Audiology
Services. Participants (n=18 males, n=22 females) with mild-to-moderate HL, who were native English speakers with good cognitive
and psychological health, good dexterity and vision. A questionnaire was developed. Retention questions mirrored fitting appointment.
A total of 20 questions covered 2 broad categories: Information about practical issues (n=12) and about psychosocial issues (n=8).
A standard fitting appointment was adopted with administration of (GHABP) part 1 questions 2 & 4; a telephone follow-up was
administered 4-6 weeks post-fitting where part 2 of GHABP questions 2&4 was completed. Overall recall was 49.6%; psychosocial
information was less retained 36% and practical better remembered with 63.5% rate. Retention of HA orientation information is
important for AR outcomes as it correlated with HA benefit (r=0.482, p<0.05). AR outcome is a multifactorial construct. Results
suggested that HAs intervention alleviated participants listening difficulties and improved their quality of life.