Download PDF
Semin Hear 2022; 43(02): 110-120
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1748835
Review Article

APSO Standards: Implementing Hearing Aid Needs Assessments and Measuring Related Outcomes

Michelle L. Arnold
1   Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
,
Victoria A. Sanchez
2   Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
    Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

The proportion of individuals who pose to benefit from the use of hearing aids is much smaller than those who adopt them. Likewise, many adults who try hearing devices abandon using them after a short period of time. Most factors related to hearing aid use are unrelated to a patient's hearing loss severity. Hearing loss treatment requires more than the provision of hearing aids as a sole intervention. Adoption rates could be improved through the implementation of evidence-based clinical protocols which maximize patients' success. Recently, the Audiology Practice Standards Organization (APSO) released evidence-based, formal standards of practice addressing hearing aid selection, fitting, and rehabilitation for adult and geriatric patients. Notably, the standards acknowledge the importance of an amplification needs assessment, including hearing aid outcomes measurement. In this brief narrative, we describe Standards 3 and 14 (Needs Assessment and Hearing Aid Outcomes Measurement) and offer an example of the clinical implementation of a comprehensive needs assessment and hearing aid outcomes measurement currently being used in a multisite, longitudinal clinical trial.

Keywords

hearing aids - adults - geriatrics - hearing loss - outcome measurement


Publication History

Article published online:
26 July 2022

© 2022. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.
333 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001, USA

 

  • References

  • 1 National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Quick Statistics About Hearing. 2016. Accessed April 18, 2022 at: https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing#5
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Dalton DS, Cruickshanks KJ, Klein BEK, Klein R, Wiley TL, Nondahl DM. The impact of hearing loss on quality of life in older adults. Gerontologist 2003; 43 (05) 661-668
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Kramer SE, Kapteyn TS, Kuik DJ, Deeg DJH. The association of hearing impairment and chronic diseases with psychosocial health status in older age. J Aging Health 2002; 14 (01) 122-137
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Lin FR, Ferrucci L, Metter EJ, An Y, Zonderman AB, Resnick SM. Hearing loss and cognition in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Neuropsychology 2011; 25 (06) 763-770
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Chisolm TH, Johnson CE, Danhauer JL. et al. 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. J Am Acad Audiol 2007; 18 (02) 151-183
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Ferguson MA, Kitterick PT, Chong LY, Edmondson-Jones M, Barker F, Hoare DJ. Hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing loss in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2017; 9: CD012023
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Chien W, Lin FR. Prevalence of hearing aid use among older adults in the United States. Arch Intern Med 2012; 172 (03) 292-293
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Kochkin S. MarkeTrak VIII: 25-year trends in the hearing health market. Hearing Review 2009; 16 (11) 12-31
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 Kochkin S. MarkeTrak VII: The key influencing factors in hearing aid purchase intent. Hearing Review 2012; 19 (03) 12-25
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Knudsen LV, Öberg M, Nielsen C, Naylor G, Kramer SE. Factors influencing help seeking, hearing aid uptake, hearing aid use and satisfaction with hearing aids: a review of the literature. Trends Amplif 2010; 14 (03) 127-154
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 11 Meyer C, Hickson L. What factors influence help-seeking for hearing impairment and hearing aid adoption in older adults?. Int J Audiol 2012; 51 (02) 66-74
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 12 Audiology Practice Standards Organization. Standard S2.1 [2021]. Hearing aid fitting standard for adult and geriatric patients. 2021 Accessed April 10, 2022 at: https://www.audiologystandards.org/standards/display.php?id=102
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 13 Valente M, Abrams HB, Benson D. et al. Guidelines for the audiological management of adult hearing impairment. Audiology Today 2006; 18 (05) 32-38
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 14 British Society of Audiology. Common principles of rehabilitation for adults in audiology services. 2016 Accessed April 10, 2022 at: http://www.thebsa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Practice-Guidance-Common-Principles-of-Rehabilitation-for-Adults-in-Audiology-Services-2016.pdf
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 15 Johnson EC, Danhauer LJ. Handbook of outcomes measurement in audiology. Thomson/Delmar Learning/Singular; Clifton Park, NY: 2002
    Google Scholar
  • 16 Schum JD. Perceived hearing aid benefit in relation to perceived needs. Int Journ Audiol 1999; 10 (01) 40-45 . Doi: https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0042-1748329
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 17 Cox MR, Alexander CG. (2000) Expectations about hearing aids and their relation to fitting outcome. J Am Acad Audiol 2000; 11 (07) 368-382
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 18 Jacobson PG, Newman WC, Fabry AD, Sandridge AS. Development of the three-clinic Hearing Aid Selection Profile (HASP). J Am Acad Audiol 2001; 12 (03) 128-141
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 19 Sweetow RW. Time-based expectations and the communication needs assessment. Starkey Audiology Series 2009; 1 (03) 1-4
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 20 Saunders GH, Cienkowski KM. A test to measure subjective and objective speech intelligibility. J Am Acad Audiol 2002; 13 (01) 38-49
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 21 Saunders GH, Forsline A. The Performance-Perceptual Test (PPT) and its relationship to aided reported handicap and hearing aid satisfaction. Ear Hear 2006; 27 (03) 229-242
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 22 Hotton M, Gagné JP. Development of a protocol and a clinical tool to assess the audiological needs of younger and older adults with hearing loss. International Journal of Audiology 2021; Accessed April 10, 2022 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/14992027.2021.1947532
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 23 Anderson MC, Arehart KH, Souza PE. Survey of current practice in the fitting and fine-tuning of common signal-processing features in hearing aids for adults. J Am Acad Audiol 2018; 29 (02) 118-124
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 24 Lindley G. Current hearing aid fitting protocols: results from an online survey. Audiology Today 2006; 18 (03) 19-22
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 25 Saunders GH, Chisolm TH, Abrams HB. Measuring hearing aid outcomes–not as easy as it seems. J Rehabil Res Dev 2005; 42 (04, Suppl 2): 157-168
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 26 Mueller HG. Signia Expert Series: Speech-in-noise testing for selection and fitting of hearing aids: Worth the effort?. Audiology Online, Article 18336. 2016. Accessed April 10, 2022 at: https://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/signia-expert-series-speech-in-18336
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 27 Bentler RA, Kramer SE. Guidelines for choosing a self-report outcome measure. Ear Hear 2000; 21 (4, Suppl): 37S-49S
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 28 Bentler R, Mueller HG, Ricketts TA. Modern Hearing Aids: Verification, Outcome Measures, and Follow-Up. Plural Publishing Inc.;; 2016
    Google Scholar
  • 29 Deal JA, Albert MS, Arnold M. et al. A randomized feasibility pilot trial of hearing treatment for reducing cognitive decline: results from the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders Pilot Study. Alzheimers Dement (N Y) 2017; 3 (03) 410-415
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 30 Deal JA, Goman AM, Albert MS. et al. Hearing treatment for reducing cognitive decline: Design and methods of the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders randomized controlled trial. Alzheimers Dement (N Y) 2018; 4: 499-507
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 31 Sanchez VA, Arnold ML, Reed NS. et al. The hearing intervention for the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders randomized controlled trial: manualization and feasibility study. Ear Hear 2020; 41 (05) 1333-1348
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 32 Dawes P, Emsley R, Cruickshanks KJ. et al. Hearing loss and cognition: The role of hearing aids, social isolation, and depression. PloS One 2015. Accessed April 10, 2022 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119616
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 33 Lin FR, Metter EJ, O'Brien RJ, Resnick SM, Zonderman AB, Ferrucci L. Hearing loss and incident dementia. Arch Neurol 2011; 68 (02) 214-220
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 34 Lin FR, Yaffe K, Xia J. et al; Health ABC Study Group. Hearing loss and cognitive decline in older adults. JAMA Intern Med 2013; 173 (04) 293-299
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 35 Livingston G, Sommerlad A, Orgeta V. et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care. Lancet 2017; 390 (10113): 2673-2734
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 36 Davidson A, Marrone N, Wong B, Musiek F. Predicting hearing aid satisfaction in adults: a systematic review of speech-in-noise tests and other behavioral measures. Ear Hear 2021; 42 (06) 1485-1498
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 37 Walden TC, Walden BE. Predicting success with hearing aids in everyday living. J Am Acad Audiol 2004; 15 (05) 342-352
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 38 Killion MC, Niquette PA, Gudmundsen GI, Revit LJ, Banerjee S. Development of a quick speech-in-noise test for measuring signal-to-noise ratio loss in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. J Acoust Soc Am 2004; 116 (4, Pt 1): 2395-2405
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 39 Wilson RH. Clinical experience with the words-in-noise test on 3430 veterans: comparisons with pure-tone thresholds and word recognition in quiet. J Am Acad Audiol 2011; 22 (07) 405-423
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 40 Taylor B. Speech-in-noise tests. Hear J 2003; 56 (01) 40-42
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 41 McArdle AR, Wilson HR. Homgeneity of the 18 QuickSIN (TM) lists. J Am Acad Audiol 2006; 17: 157-167
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 42 Ventry IM, Weinstein BE. The hearing handicap inventory for the elderly: a new tool. Ear Hear 1982; 3 (03) 128-134
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 43 Ventry IM, Weinstein BE. Identification of elderly people with hearing problems. ASHA 1983; 25 (07) 37-42
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 44 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Guidelines for audiologic screening. 1997 . Accessed April 10, 2022 at: asha.org/policy
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 45 Dillon H, James A, Ginis J. Client Oriented Scale of Improvement (COSI) and its relationship to several other measures of benefit and satisfaction provided by hearing aids. J Am Acad Audiol 1997; 8 (01) 27-43
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 46 Killion CM, Niquette AP, Gudmundsen IG, Revit HL, Banarjee S. Development of a quick speech-in-noise test for measuring signal-to-noise ratio loss in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. J Acous Soc Am 2003; 116 (04) 2395-2405
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 47 Ida Institute. Motivation Tools. Accessed April 10, 2022 at: https://idainstitute.com/tools/motivation_tools/
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 48 Cox RM, Alexander GC. The International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA): psychometric properties of the English version. Int J Audiol 2002; 41 (01) 30-35
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 49 Noble W. Extending the IOI to significant others and to non-hearing-aid-based interventions. Int J Audiol 2002; 41 (01) 27-29
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar