Descriptions of Hearing Loss Severity Differentially Influence Parental Concern about the Impact of Childhood Hearing Loss.
Caitlin Sapp, Ryan McCreery, Lenore Holte and 2 others
PMID 36314965WHAT IT FOUND
Parents shown hearing aid simulations or audibility percentages expressed significantly higher concern for their child's development than those given standard mild/moderate labels.
This increased concern correlated with a preference for more intensive interventions, such as hearing aids or sign language.
Key findings
01Hearing loss simulations elicited significantly higher parental concern than both audibility-based descriptions and classification-based labels.
02Audibility-based descriptions resulted in significantly higher parental concern than standard classification-based descriptions.
03Among parents of children with mild hearing loss, those shown audibility data chose significantly more intensive intervention options than those given classification labels.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Participants were parents of infants with typical hearing, not parents of children with actual hearing loss, so their reactions may not fully reflect the emotional state of a family receiving a real diagnosis. The sample was predominantly female, highly educated, and white, which may limit generalizability. The study measured immediate concern and hypothetical intervention choices, not actual device use or long-term developmental outcomes.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the increased concern as a guarantee of better clinical outcomes. While audibility descriptions and simulations raised concern and preference for intervention, this study did not measure whether these parents actually adhered to hearing aid use or if their children achieved better language outcomes.