What do hearing healthcare professionals do to promote hearing aid use and benefit among adults? A systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To conduct a systematic review of the evidence in relation to what hearing healthcare professionals do during hearing aid consultations and identifying which behaviours promote hearing aid use and benefit among adult patients. Design: Searches were performed in electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Web of Science, PubMed and Google Scholar. The Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool and Melnyk Levels of Evidence were used to assess quality and level of evidence of eligible studies. Behaviours of hearing healthcare professionals were summarised descriptively. Study Sample: 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. Results: Twelve studies described behaviours of audiologists and five studies were intervention studies. Audiologists were typically task-or technically-oriented and/or dominated the interaction during hearing aid consultations. Two intervention studies suggested that use of motivational interviewing techniques by audiologists may increase hearing aid use in patients. Conclusions: Most studies of clinicians' behaviours were descriptive, with very little research linking clinician behaviour to patient outcomes. The present review sets the research agenda for better-controlled intervention studies to identify which clinician behaviours better promote patient hearing aid outcomes and develop an evidence base for best clinical practice.

A Quasi-Randomized Controlled Trial of the I-PLAN Intervention to Promote Hearing Aid Use Among First-Time Adult Hearing Aid Users

“…However, based on our video observations of clinical interactions in the Standard Care group, none of the information about social and environmental consequences as stated in the I-PLAN materials was delivered by the study audiologists. The video observations of the study audiologists were also in line with a systematic review which concluded that audiologists typically focus on provision of information concerning technical aspects of hearing aids during hearing aid consultations (Ismail et al, 2019).…”

“…This suggests that interventions should target “volitional processes” (e.g., action planning) to increase hearing aid use among adult patients ( Sawyer et al., 2019 ). In addition, given that little is known about what behaviors audiologists perform that may facilitate hearing aid use, studies that involve audiologists delivering interventions face-to-face are needed to provide an evidence base for clinical practice ( Ismail et al., 2019 ).…”

Motivational Interviewing for Hearing Aid Use: A Systematic Meta-Analysis on Its Potential for Adult Patients with Hearing Loss

“…Wilson and Stephens also noted that users' attitudes toward hearing-aids impacted both HA use and satisfaction. Ismail et al's 31 review on hearing providers current practice suggested that perhaps the lack of improvement in HA use and other outcomes is due to ineffective audiological consultations. Their review identified that hearing-aid provider behaviors and strategies had not changed, despite patient concerns and published knowledge of limitations.…”

Effect of Pharmacogenetic-Based Decision Support Tools in Improving Depression Outcomes: A Systematic Review

“…As the CCAT does not include an explanation of the percentages obtained, the quality of the included studies was classified as poor (score: 0-50%), moderate (score: 51-74%), and high (score: 75-100%), based on criteria used in previous studies. [38][39][40]…”