A Systematic Review of Health-Related Quality of Life and Hearing Aids: Final Report of the American Academy of Audiology Task Force on the Health-Related Quality of Life Benefits of Amplification in Adults

Abstract

This is the final report of the American Academy of Audiology Task Force on the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) Benefits of Amplification in Adults. A systematic review with meta-analysis examined evidence pertaining to the use of hearing aids for improving HRQoL for adults with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Relevant search strings applied to the CENTRAL, CINAHL, Cochrane Reviews, ComDisDome, EBMR, and PubMed databases identified randomized controlled trial, quasi-experimental, and nonexperimental pre-post test designed studies. Sixteen studies met a priori criteria for inclusion in this review. A random-effects meta-analysis showed differential results for generic versus disease-specific HRQoL measures for within- and between-subject designs. Although generic measures used for within-subject designs did not demonstrate HRQoL benefits from hearing aids, mean effect sizes and confidence intervals for within-subject designs and disease-specific instruments suggested that hearing aids have a small-to-medium impact on HRQoL. Further, the between-subject studies supported at least a small effect for generic measures, and when measured by disease-specific instruments, hearing aids had medium-to-large effects on adults' HRQoL. This review concludes that hearing aids improve adults' HRQoL by reducing psychological, social, and emotional effects of SNHL. Future studies should include control groups using randomized controlled trials.

Improving Collaborative Behaviour Planning in Adult Auditory Rehabilitation: Development of the I-PLAN Intervention Using the Behaviour Change Wheel

“…Our literature search suggested that many negative health and psychosocial consequences of poorly managed acquired hearing loss can be ameliorated by hearing aid use [20,62,63], providing a rationale for addressing hearing aid use. Two behavioural problems arose from this analysis: low levels of uptake of hearing healthcare and sub-optimal levels of hearing aid use once they are fitted.…”

Próteses auditivas por idosos: aspectos psicossociais, adaptação e qualidade de vida

“…Segundo Assayag e Russo (2006), existem diferenças estatisticamente signifi cantes na avaliação subjetiva do benefício percebido por idosos quando comparadas às situações com e sem pró-teses auditivas, sendo que o benefício era mais bem percebido quando o indivíduo utilizava as próteses. Chisolm et al (2007) conduziram uma revisão de literatura sistemática através de uma meta-análise com o objetivo de buscar evidências no que diz respeito à relação entre o uso de próteses auditivas e a melhora na qualidade de vida de adultos com perda auditiva neurossensorial. Dos 171 resumos considerados relevantes e encontrados na pesquisa inicial, os autores destacaram 16 artigos que obedeciam a todos os critérios de inclusão pré-determinados no estudo.…”

Does clinician continuity influence hearing aid outcomes?

“…Despite the benefits associated with hearing aid use (Chisolm et al, 2007), many adult hearing aid owners either do not complete rehabilitation programs or they use hearing aids less than the recommended four hours per day, with up to 30% abandoning use of hearing aids altogether Smeeth et al, 2002;Bertoli et al, 2009;Hartley et al, 2010;Hickson et al, 2010;Schneider et al, 2010;Dillon, 2012). Despite seeking aural rehabilitation, these people are living in the community with unaddressed hearing and communication difficulties.…”