J Am Acad Audiol 2000; 11(07): 368-382
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1748124
Original Article

Expectations About Hearing Aids and Their Relationship to Fitting Outcome

Robyn M. Cox
School of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Memphis, and
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Memphis, Tennessee
,
Genevieve C. Alexander
School of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Memphis, and
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Memphis, Tennessee
› Institutsangaben

Abstract

Clinicians are often concerned that unrealistic prefitting expectations can have a negative impact on fitting success for new hearing aid wearers. To investigate this concern and to explore the potential value of measuring expectations, we developed the Expected Consequences of Hearing aid Ownership (ECHO) questionnaire as a companion to the Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life questionnaire. Four experiments were conducted to (1) determine realistic expectations for hearing aids, (2) evaluate expectations of new users, (3) measure reliability of prefitting expectations, and (4) assess relationships between prefitting expectations and postfitting satisfaction. Novice hearing aid users were found to have stable prefitting expectations about hearing aids, and these expectations were unrealistically high for the typical individual. There were many different expectation patterns across subjects. Of the four subscales of the ECHO, only one was predictive of the corresponding satisfaction data. Potential clinical applications are described.

Abbreviations: ECHO = Expected Consequences of Hearing aid Ownership, SADL = Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life, 3FAHL = better-ear three-frequency (500–2000 Hz) pure-tone average hearing loss



Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
12. April 2022

© 2000. American Academy of Audiology. This article is published by Thieme.

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