Hearing-aid assembly management among adults from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds: Toward the feasibility of self-fitting hearing aids

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the study was twofold: (1) to assess the ability of hearing-impaired adults in the developing world to independently and accurately assemble a pair of hearing aids by following instructions that were written and illustrated according to best-practice health literacy principles; and (2) to determine which factors influence independent and accurate task completion. Design: Correlational study. Study sample: Forty South African and 40 Chinese adults with a hearing loss and their partners. The participant group included 42 females and 38 males ranging in age from 32 to 92 years. Results: Ninety-five percent of South African and 60% of Chinese participants completed the assembly task, either on their own or with assistance from their partners. Better health literacy, younger age, and a more prestigious occupation were significantly associated with independent task completion for the South African and Chinese participants. Task accuracy was significantly linked to higher levels of cognitive function among South African participants, while a paucity of valid data prevented an analysis of accuracy from being conducted with the Chinese data. Conclusion: Individuals of diverse backgrounds can manage the self-fitting hearing-aid assembly task as long as health literacy levels and cultural differences are considered.

Key Words::

• Amplification
• developing countries
• health literacy
• hearing aids
• self-fitting hearing aids

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Faheema Mahomed and Analicia Pretorius of the University of Pretoria for collecting the South African data, and Mark Seeto of the National Acoustic Laboratories for assistance with statistical analysis. Portions of this paper were presented at the 20th Audiology Australia National Conference, Adelaide, Australia, in July 2012.

Declaration of interest: This research was funded by the HEARing CRC, established and supported under the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centres Programme, and the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Siemens Audiologische Technik, a member of the HEARing CRC, provided the hearing aids and accessories used in this the study. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.