Modeling relationships between various domains of hearing aid provision.
Various inventories have been developed to quantify the success of hearing aid provision. Though numerous parameters including initial measures (hearing disability, handicap) or 'outcome measures' (e.g. benefit, satisfaction and usage) are recorded, relationships and interactions among them are still unclear. A study applying a questionnaire addressing 11 domains relevant to amplification was conducted in order to generate different psychometric models with the AMOS software package for structural equation modeling. The models expose easily interpretable interactions and are helpful in understanding effects occurring with commonly used outcome measures: benefit reflects the difference between the aided and unaided condition but additionally comprises the importance of the hearing aid within a specific situation. Satisfaction is highly reliant on benefit. Usage is strongly dependent on the severity of hearing problems and therefore not appropriate in assessing the success of amplification. Moreover, the models help to predict the outcome of clinically used inventories (i.e. the Glasgow Hearing Aid Benefit Profile).
Meister
Hartmut
H
ENT Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. hartmut.meister@uni-koeln.de
Lausberg
Isabel
I
Kiessling
Jürgen
J
von Wedel
Hasso
H
Walger
Martin
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires