Media Use by Older Adults With Hearing Loss: An Exploratory Survey

Abstract

Objectives There has been a substantial increase in people with health conditions seeking health-related information online. The aim of this study was to examine the media usage by older adults with hearing loss. Method The study used a cross-sectional survey design. A total of 556 older adults with hearing loss (Hearing Tracker website users) completed the survey that was focused on (a) demographic information, (b) general electronic media usage, (c) sources of hearing health information, and (d) social media use for hearing health information. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. Results When seeking hearing health care information, the majority of the participants turned to the Internet (54%) followed by health professionals (34%) as the first response to their symptoms. Both sources were also rated as the easiest means of obtaining hearing health information. The information from health care providers was rated as more reliable and important for decision making than that from the Internet. Facebook and YouTube were the most frequently used social media platforms with over 40% of the respondents using them “most of the time” or “sometimes.” All the social media platforms were rated less favorably than other sources for ease of finding information, reliability, and importance in decision making. Conclusion Older adults with hearing loss use various forms of electronic media for seeking hearing health information. They place the most trust on the information obtained from hearing health care professionals. These professionals need to be aware of the quality of information available on the Internet and social media sources in order to direct patients to credible sources. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12170397

Portrayal of Hearing Loss in YouTube Videos: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Analysis

“…This may have played a crucial role in determining the understandability and actionability scores of these materials that are freely available to public. Overall, these results indicate that there is need for significant improvement in the video quality and content in order to facilitate behavior change in individuals with hearing 21 loss who may be watching these videos as source of information for their decision-making (Manchaiah et al, 2020a).…”

“…It is also a common outlet for health-related information to be shared by professionals, health organizations, and/or patients and facilitates user interactions through commenting, responding, and messaging options (Duke et al, 2019;Wong et al, 2016). A recent study that examined the media usage by older adults with hearing loss suggested that YouTube was the most frequently used social media platform, although nearly half of the study participants reported that they find it extremely hard to find hearing health information in YouTube videos (Manchaiah et al, 2020a). Content analysis of YouTube information has repeatedly indicated variable unregulated quality for numerous health care concerns, including diabetes and infection preventing.…”

Suggestions for shaping tinnitus service provision in Western Europe: Lessons from the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…A study looking at media representation of tinnitus in newspapers and the media in the United States identified greater coverage of these such as diagnosis and cause, symptoms, social support, research and development, challenges, symptoms and coping 28 . Efforts are needed to both examine and improve access to tinnitus and hearing‐related health information in European languages, especially via electronic media (eg, social media) from which many users are likely to gather hearing health information 29 …”

“…28 Efforts are needed to both examine and improve access to tinnitus and hearing-related health information in European languages, especially via electronic media (eg, social media) from which many users are likely to gather hearing health information. 29 Tinnitus support groups are often a valuable resource to those with tinnitus as they provide social connectedness and shared social identification. 30 Considering this, it was interesting that the majority of respondents (82%) reported not attending a support group prior to the pandemic and very few attended an online tinnitus support group during the pandemic.…”

“…Finding reliable information on the internet can be difficult. 28,29 They were particularly interested in current information such as the association between tinnitus and COVID-19 and current research themes. Tinnitus stakeholders should unite efforts to make this information available in a united way and increase the availability of expert videos and webinars.…”