Predictive Factors for Hearing aid Satisfaction for Experienced and First-time Hearing aid Users: Using the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing aids

Background: Based on studies showing that hearing aid (HA) ownership among people with a hearing deficit is surprisingly low, it stresses the importance of improving the likelihood of achieving a successful HA treatment. The level of satisfaction with the HA treatment is assessed using the self-administered International Outcome Inventory of Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) questionnaire. The aims of the current study were to investigate the level of HA satisfaction for experienced and first-time HA users, and further to investigate which factors significantly associated with satisfaction of the HA treatment. Moreover, the study aimed to evaluate any difference between self-reported and objectively measured HA usage time (through data logging). Method: The study population (n=1649) comprised of both experienced (n=458) and first time HA users (n=1191). The study design was a self-reported questionnaire survey and a part of the national BEAR project. Patients were enrolled from January 2017 to January 2018, and they answered several questionnaires, including the IOI-HA questionnaire. The IOI-HA consists of seven items, each targeting different hearing outcome domains and scored from 1-5. A higher score indicates a better perceived outcome of the HA treatment. Data logged HA usage time was obtained at two months follow-up visits and compared to the self-reported usage time obtained from the initial IOI-HA questionnaire item. Experienced users answered the IOI-HA before and two months following HA fitting. First time users answered two months following HA fitting. Results: Results showed that experienced HA users reported a mean total IOI-HA score of 27.8, and first-time HA users a mean total IOI-HA score of 28.2, indicating a high level of satisfaction with the HA treatment in current clinical practice in Denmark. Total mean IOI-HA scores for experienced HA users increased significantly by 0.36 (SD=0.92) (p<0.001), which indicated a higher satisfaction with the new HAs. This argues that it is meaningful to renew HAs after four years following Danish standards. Motivation was shown to be significantly associated with level of HA satisfaction among the first-time users, whereas HA usage time, monosyllabic word scores and type of hearing class were shown to be significantly associated with HA satisfaction for both groups of HA users. Data logging for experienced users showed an average HA use time of 10.4 hours (SD=5.10) and 8.35 hours (SD=1.02) of use for first time users, and this difference was significant (p<0.001).