Evaluating Hearing Aid Self-Efficacy Version 1

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    The Evaluation of Hearing Aid Self-Efficacy in New Adult Users.

  • IRAS ID

    146144

  • Contact name

    Emily Frost

  • Contact email

    emily.frost@imperial.nhs.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Southampton

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 0 months, 30 days

  • Research summary

    This study aims to evaluate hearing aid self-efficacy in new adult users by obtaining data from two different self-efficacy questionnaires. Self-efficacy is defined as an individual’s belief in whether they can complete a specific task.

    It has been suggested that self-efficacy is important in audiological rehabilitation. Currently the research has focussed only on the development of a hearing aid self-efficacy questionnaire - the Measure of Audiologic Rehabilitation Self-Efficacy for Hearing Aids (MARS-HA). This present study will compare the MARS-HA and the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) – a general health management self-efficacy questionnaire. The PAM has been chosen due to its lack of audiological data.

    Primarily this study aims to provide normative and percentile data for the two questionnaires allowing future studies to utilise these outcome measures when researching self-efficacy interventions. Secondly this study aims to compare the two questionnaires to see how scores differ between a specific and a general questionnaire. Thirdly the study will compare scores to demographic data such as age and gender, in addition to audiological data such as hearing loss severity, hearing aid type, self-reported benefit and hours of use. Finally the study will assess how self-efficacy scores change throughout the audiological rehabilitation process.

    This study will recruit up to 250 new adult hearing aid users via opportunity sampling from new GP referrals into one NHS audiology service. Participants will be aged over 18 with no upper age limit to obtain a varied sample of the general hearing aid population.

    Participants will be required to complete both questionnaires at the end of their three standard appointments. This will be the assessment, the fitting and follow-up (after approximately 8 weeks of hearing aid use). This will provide percentile data for each appointment and allow comparison of scores throughout the rehabilitation process.

  • REC name

    Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    14/YH/1191

  • Date of REC Opinion

    24 Sep 2014

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion