Development of a hearing help-seeking questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior.
Michelle Arnold, Brent J Small, Kathryn Hyer and 4 others
PMID 30767581WHAT IT FOUND
A new 18-item questionnaire distinguishes older adults who seek hearing tests from those who do not.
Scores on intentions, perceived control, and attitudes were significantly higher in those who followed up with a test. The tool relies on self-report and has not yet been tested for stability over time.
Key findings
01Participants who reported having a hearing test within six months had significantly higher Intentions, Perceived Behavioral Control, and Attitudes scores than those who did not.
02The questionnaire was reduced to 18 items, with three of the four scales showing acceptable internal consistency and one showing questionable consistency.
03Younger participants and those with a longer duration of self-reported hearing difficulty reported stronger intentions to seek out a hearing test.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study did not assess test-retest reliability, so it is unknown if the same person would score similarly if they took the questionnaire again later. The Subjective Norms scale had questionable internal consistency, meaning those three items may not reliably measure what they are intended to. Results rely on self-report, which can be influenced by social desirability or memory bias. The study only looked at seeking a hearing test, not at whether patients actually obtained or used hearing aids. Participants were recruited from community screenings and passed a cognitive screen, so results may not apply to those with cognitive impairment or those who do not attend screenings.
Declared interests
The work was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use this questionnaire as a validated clinical tool for individual patient care. It has not been tested for reliability over time, and the Subjective Norms scale showed questionable consistency. It is currently a research instrument for understanding group-level help-seeking behaviors.