Improving auditory outcomes

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Improving auditory outcomes using health behavioural approaches

• IRAS ID

  170487

• Contact name

  Christopher Arden Armitage

• Contact email

  chris.armitage@manchester.ac.uk

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 9 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Suboptimal use of hearing aids causes negative economic, social, physical and psychological outcomes. Despite these negative outcomes 43.4% of people who own a hearing aid fail to use them regularly or at all, reducing their quality of life and leading to poorer health outcomes. More broadly, suboptimal use of hearing aids undermines health investment through wasted resources. To date, very little is known about the factors that drive sustained use of hearing aids, except from qualitative, retrospective or cross-sectional studies.

  The primary goal of the research is to identify predictors of future suboptimal hearing aid use. Identifying predictors of suboptimal hearing aid use will help us to target the kinds of people who may require additional support in future intervention work, and suggest what kinds of materials those interventions might contain.
  
  The secondary goal of the research is to explore audiology staff beliefs and perceptions regarding being involved in research. Previous research has explored common barriers to clinicians’ involvement with research, but most has adopted a quantitative approach and has focused on nurses and midwives.

  To address primary goals patients who are over 18 and eligible for a hearing aid will be recruited from audiology clinics in Manchester. Participants will be asked to complete a baseline questionnaire after initial hearing loss assessment and complete follow up questionnaires after hearing aid fitting and follow up appointment. We will also ask participants a series of open-ended questions designed to gauge patient satisfaction with the research process and the acceptability of receiving a brief intervention to sustain hearing aid use in the future.

  To address the secondary goal qualitative interviews with audiology staff will be used to explore beliefs and perceptions about being involved in research.

• REC name

  London - City & East Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/LO/0367

• Date of REC Opinion

  27 Feb 2015

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion