RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate whether positive focus (PF), an intervention that asks hearing aid users to focus on positive listening experiences, improves hearing aid outcomes for first-time hearing aid users. DESIGN: The participants were randomised into a control or PF group. They were fitted with hearing aids and followed for six months after fitting. The PF group was asked to report positive listening experiences in their daily life via an app. Participants in both groups were periodically prompted by the app to answer questionnaires about hearing aid satisfaction and benefit. Two follow-up visits at approximately one and six months were performed. STUDY SAMPLE: 20 adult first-time hearing aid users in the control and 18 in the PF group. RESULTS: Hearing aid satisfaction and benefit scores were significantly better in the PF group, already at two weeks and throughout the six months. In the PF group, the hearing aid outcomes were positively correlated with the number of submitted positive reports. CONCLUSIONS: These results point to the importance of asking first-time hearing aid users to focus on positive listening experiences and to reflect upon them. This can lead to improved short- and long-term hearing aid outcomes.
RESUMO
Negativity bias is a cognitive bias that results in negative events being perceptually more salient than positive ones. For hearing care, this means that hearing aid benefits can potentially be overshadowed by adverse experiences. Research has shown that sustaining focus on positive experiences has the potential to mitigate negativity bias. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether a positive focus (PF) intervention can improve speech-in-noise abilities for experienced hearing aid users. Thirty participants were randomly allocated to a control or PF group (N = 2 × 15). Prior to hearing aid fitting, all participants filled out the short form of the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing scale (SSQ12) based on their own hearing aids. At the first visit, they were fitted with study hearing aids, and speech-in-noise testing was performed. Both groups then wore the study hearing aids for two weeks and sent daily text messages reporting hours of hearing aid use to an experimenter. In addition, the PF group was instructed to focus on positive listening experiences and to also report them in the daily text messages. After the 2-week trial, all participants filled out the SSQ12 questionnaire based on the study hearing aids and completed the speech-in-noise testing again. Speech-in-noise performance and SSQ12 Qualities score were improved for the PF group but not for the control group. This finding indicates that the PF intervention can improve subjective and objective hearing aid benefits.
