Time From Hearing Aid Candidacy to Hearing Aid Adoption: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.
Annie N Simpson, Lois J Matthews, Christy Cassarly and 1 others
PMID 30085938WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with hearing loss waited about 8.9 years after becoming hearing-aid candidates before adopting hearing aids.
Delays were shorter when hearing loss or self-reported social hearing handicap was worse, and longer for non-white participants.
Key findings
01The average time from hearing-aid candidacy to hearing-aid adoption was 8.9 years, with an interquartile range of 3.2 to 14.9 years.
02Non-white participants averaged 15.2 years to adopt hearing aids after candidacy, compared with 8.6 years for white participants.
03Each 10-dB increase in high-frequency PTA increased likelihood of adoption by 24%, and each 10-point increase in HHIE social score increased likelihood of adoption by 58%.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This was an observational cohort study, not a randomized trial, so it cannot show that any factor caused hearing-aid adoption. The average delay of 8.9 years may be too short because the longest observed participant had not adopted hearing aids before the study ended. For 46% of participants, the study entry date was used as the candidacy date, which likely underestimated delay. Participants received repeated hearing tests, counselling about amplification and assistive devices, and communication strategies, so they may have had more support than adults in routine practice. Hearing-aid adoption was self-reported, and adoption year was converted to a date using December 31 when only the year was known. Only 213 adopters were analyzed for successful versus unsuccessful use, and no factor predicted success, so the study cannot say why some people do well with hearing aids. Uptake during the study was 25.4% among candidates, and participants were volunteers in hearing research, so results may not apply to adults who do not seek hearing care.
Declared interests
The work was supported by NIH/NIDCD grant P50 DC000422 and by the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute through NIH/NCRR grant UL1 RR029882.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 8.9-year delay as evidence that hearing aids work or that earlier adoption improves outcomes. The study tracked adoption and success in one cohort; it did not test hearing-aid benefit, and among adopters no factor predicted successful use.