Feasibility of Using a Smartphone-Based Hearing Aid Application to Improve Attitudes Toward Amplification and Hearing Impairment

Abstract

Objective The objective of the study was to determine whether short-term experience (i.e., 4 weeks) with a smartphone-based hearing aid application (SHAA) might positively improve attitudes toward amplification uptake and hearing impairment. Method We recruited 15 experienced hearing aid wearers who had ceased wearing their devices for > 1 year (i.e., “In-the-Drawer” group) and 15 individuals with self-reported hearing difficulties who had yet to adopt hearing aids (i.e., “First-Time” group). We obtained participant attitudes pre- and post-SHAA using 3 surveys and analyzed perceptible changes in attitude for each survey. Comparative findings were then generalized to the health belief model in the context of perceived benefits (i.e., efficacy of an action to reduce risk) and reduced perceived barriers (i.e., tangible and psychological costs that inhibit compliance and adoption). Results A short trial period with an SHAA appears to modify the psychological perception toward amplification and reduce listener perception with respect to hearing difficulties in both groups. Conclusion A short trial period with an SHAA improved the perceived benefits and reduced the perceived barriers in the average First-Time listener, who often delays adoption of traditional amplification. The same trial period was also found to improve perceived benefits and reduce perceived barriers for the average In-the-Drawer listener, but to a lesser degree than their First-Time counterparts.

Effectiveness of a Self-Fitting Tool for User-Driven Fitting of Hearing Aids

“…Advantageously, the trial time of using the smartphone app improved the various benefits (increased communication ability and motivation in quieter environments, increased self-sufficiency) and reduced the noticeable barrier (hearing loss stigma) of using an HA [41]. Additionally, participants in another study noticed increased communication ability in different acoustic spaces and increased self-sufficiency [22].…”

“…Critically, globally, only about 20% to 33% of individuals use a hearing aid [21]. Several studies have examined this question and found that the regular use of hearing aids has been low, with insufficient hearing improvements, and inappropriate fitting has been identified as one reason for this [22,23]. There are several reviews of the factors leading to low hearing aid adoption, for example, viewing the issue as a parameter-fitting procedural challenge [21,[24][25][26].…”

Argumentum ad Ignorantiam: Smartphone-Connected Listening Devices

“…In support of this latter finding, Amlani et al 45 assessed whether short-term experience with a smartphone hearing aid app positively improved patient attitudes toward amplification uptake and the listener's perception toward their hearing impairment. Two groups of 15 participants each were recruited for participation: (1) an experienced group of hearing aid users who had ceased utilizing their devices for >1 year prior to the study, and (2) an inexperienced group of listeners who had not yet adopted any form of amplification.…”

“…Similar to Amlani et al, 45 Maidment et al 41,42 also examined the everyday experiences of existing hearing aid users (N ¼ 20) with mild-to-moderate hearing loss toward a range of smartphoneconnected hearing devices using both quantitative and qualitative methods. In terms of the qualitative aspects of the study, Maidment and colleagues 41 performed semistructured interviews to gain in-depth insights into how participants used the smartphone-connected hearing devices during a 2-week field study.…”

Pocketable Labs for Everyone: Synchronized Multi-Sensor Data Streaming and Recording on Smartphones with the Lab Streaming Layer

“…While less powerful than full PC desktop systems, smartphones offer sufficient computational power and a multitude of sensors to serve as standalone research instruments [6,21,[24][25][26]. Often, these built-in sensors are combined with body-worn sensors to capture whole-body movements as well as human-environment interactions in great detail, thereby opening the door to various mHealth applications [27][28][29][30][31]. To mention a few examples, the accurate recording of muscle (measuring electromyogram, EMG), heart (electrocardiogram, EKG) and brain activity patterns (electroencephalogram, EEG) in mobile setups merge portable systems such as smartphone sensors with complementary, body-worn sensors [8,12,[32][33][34][35].…”