Educational Program for Hearing Aid Users With Internet Support

March 22, 2016 updated by: Milijana Malmberg, Sodra Alvsborgs Hospital

A Randomized, Controlled Trial Evaluating the Short- and Long-term Effects of an Internet-based Aural Rehabilitation Program for Hearing Aid Users Implemented in a General Clinical Practice

The purpose of this study is to examine the short-term effects of complementing an educational program for hearing aid users with Internet support.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Aural rehabilitation aims to improve communication for people with hearing impairment. Education is widely regarded as an integral part of rehabilitation, but the effect of the delivery method of an educational program on the experience of hearing problems has rarely been investigated in controlled trials. Internet as a complement to aural rehabilitation has been tested in different studies with promising results. Though, until now not applied clinically as a part of an aural rehabilitation, focusing on hearing aid users with persistent self- reported hearing problems.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of an internet-based aural rehabilitation for hearing aid users from a clinical population.

Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. The intervention group followed a five-week program that consisted of reading material, home training assignments, online and telephone interaction with an audiologist, and participation in a discussion forum. The control group only had access to reading material.

The Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Communication Strategies Scale (CSS) were used to measure the outcomes of this study; and were recorded before and directly after the intervention as well as 6 months post-intervention.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

74

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Sweden
    • Vastra Gotalandsregion
      • Boras, Vastra Gotalandsregion, Sweden, 501 82
        • Hearing Clinic, Hearing Organization

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

20 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • the hearing aid users to be between 20 and 80 yr of age,
  • the hearing aid users to have conductive or sensorineural hearing loss of mild to moderate degree (20-60 decibel Hearing Level pure-tone average measured across 500, 1000, and 2000 Hertz),
  • the hearing aid users to have completed a hearing aid fitting at least 3 months before the study began (regardless of hearing aid manufacturer, model, or hearing aid outcomes),
  • the hearing aid users to have a Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE) score of >20 points (indicative of some residual self-reported hearing problems),
  • the hearing aid users to provide informed consent to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

  • the hearing aid users who are not fulfilling the conditions to participate

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Control group
no professional support
Behavioral: Intervention group
The intervention group followed a five-week program that consisted of reading material, home training assignments, online and telephone interaction with an audiologist, and participation in a discussion forum.
Experimental: Intervention group
Professional support via Internet
Behavioral: Control group
The control group only had access to reading material.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE)
Time Frame: 5 weeks, 6 months
The HHIE measures the experience of hearing loss in older people by focusing on the psycosocial and emotional effects of hearing loss. Higher score reflects a higher self-reported hearing problem. Minimum score for the total scale (reported) is 0 and maximum score is 100 points.
5 weeks, 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA)
Time Frame: pre-measurement
The IOI-HA measures hearing aid outcomes. The IOI-HA includes seven questions, measuring specific dimensions of hearing aid outcomes: daily use, benefits, remaining activity limitations, satisfaction, remaining participation restrictions, impact on the environment, and quality of life. Each question is scored from 1 to 5 (reported), where a higher score indicates a better outcome.
pre-measurement
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)
Time Frame: 5 weeks, 6 months
The HADS contains 14 items. Responses are scored from 0 to 3 and a higher score indicates more symptoms of anxiety and depression. Minimum score for the total scale (reported) is 0 and maximum score for the total scale is 42.
5 weeks, 6 months
Communication Strategies Scale (CSS)
Time Frame: 5 weeks, 6 months
CSS is designed to analyze participants' behavior in various communication situations. Scoring for CSS ranges from 1 almost never to 5 almost always for subscales Verbal- and Nonverbal Strategies and conversely for Maladaptive Behaviors; indicating how frequent a specific situation or behavior occurs. Minimum score for the total scale (reported) is 0 and maximum score for the total scale is 125.
5 weeks, 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sodra Alvsborgs Hospital

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Gerhard Andersson, Professor, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Division of Technical Audiology, Linkoping University, Sweden; Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Swedish Institute.
  • Principal Investigator: Thomas Lunner, Professor, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Division of Technical Audiology, Linkoping University, Sweden; Oticon A/S, Research Centre Eriksholm, Snekkersten, Denmark.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 18, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

April 23, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 25, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 22, 2016

Last Verified

March 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HörNet VGR

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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