Daily-Life Fatigue Among Adolescents Who Are Hard of Hearing: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.
Erik J Jorgensen, Megan Fear, Connor Kaminski and 3 others
PMID 40731139WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents who are hard of hearing did not report more daily fatigue than peers with typical hearing.
Fatigue levels changed based on whether it was school or summer, but the groups did not differ in how tired they felt.
Key findings
01There were no significant differences in fatigue ratings between adolescents with typical hearing and those who are hard of hearing within either the summer or school year sessions.
02Participants with typical hearing reported lower fatigue in summer than in school, while participants who are hard of hearing reported higher fatigue in summer than in school.
03Momentary ratings of listening effort were significantly related to momentary fatigue ratings across the whole day, but this relationship did not differ between the two hearing groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was very small (20 participants), which limits the generalizability of the findings and increases uncertainty around the estimates. The study only sampled one week of data per season, which may not represent the typical fatigue patterns of adolescents over a longer period. The measure of 'listening-related fatigue' showed a floor effect with almost no variance, making it impossible to analyze the specific contribution of listening to tiredness.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lack of difference in general fatigue as proof that listening effort causes no fatigue. The study was a pilot with a small sample, and the specific question about 'tiredness from listening' yielded almost no data, so it cannot rule out that listening effort contributes to fatigue in ways not captured by general tiredness ratings.
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