Daily-Life Fatigue in Mild to Moderate Hearing Impairment: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.
Louise A Burke, Graham Naylor
PMID 33136628WHAT IT FOUND
Over 14 days, adults with mild to moderate hearing impairment and normal hearing reported similar current, daily and usual fatigue.
Fatigue rose across the day in both groups, and people who spent more time in speech or group conversations reported higher fatigue.
Key findings
01Participants with hearing impairment did not report higher usual, daily, or current fatigue than participants with normal hearing.
02Current fatigue rose across the day in both groups, by 0.12 units per hour in the hearing impairment group and 0.11 units per hour in the normal hearing group on a 0 to 10 scale.
03People who generally spent more time in speech communication or focused listening, and people who generally spent more time in larger conversations, reported higher current fatigue.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The hearing impairment group was older and less often employed than the normal hearing group, which may have hidden fatigue differences. Most participants had mild to moderate hearing impairment, so the study says little about severe hearing impairment. The hearing impairment group included both hearing aid users and non-users, so hearing aid use cannot be separated. The normal hearing group came from an audiology participant pool and had a similar tinnitus rate, so it may not be a fully unselected comparison group. The fatigue scales were not validated for hearing impairment and may not capture listening fatigue well. Analyses were exploratory, with no correction for multiple significance testing. Participants who said a health condition caused tiredness were excluded, so findings apply to a healthier sample. The hearing impairment group had a lower prompted survey response rate, which may mean missed tiring situations.
Declared interests
Funded by the Medical Research Council and the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government. Authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that hearing impairment or listening situations cause fatigue. The hearing impairment and normal hearing groups did not differ in fatigue, and the situation a person was in at the time did not predict current fatigue.