Characteristics of Hearing Aid Use in Adolescents Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Abstract

Purpose: Children who use hearing aids show large individual differences in the amount of time they wear their devices, but the vast majority of research stud-ies have focused on infants and preschoolers who are deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH). There is limited empirical evidence regarding hearing aid use in adoles-cents or published data on adolescents’ attitudes toward hearing aids. The overarching aim of the current study was to characterize hearing aid use in ado-lescents who are D/HH. Method: One hundred twenty-nine adolescents who are D/HH (12–19 years old) and their parents completed questionnaires about hearing aid use and attitudes toward amplification. Examiners collected data logging at research visits. Adoles-cents and parents estimated the average amount of time hearing aids were worn during the week and weekend. We conducted a linear regression analysis to investigate the relationships among the independent predictor variables (chrono-logical age, age at hearing aid fitting, maternal education level, proximity of hear-ing aid fitting to prescriptive targets, and better ear pure-tone average) and the dependent variable (adolescent self-report of average daily hearing aid use). Results: Severity of hearing loss and maternal education level accounted for variation in hearing aid use among adolescents who are D/HH, whereas chrono-logical age, age at hearing aid fitting, and proximity of fitting to prescriptive tar-gets did not. Parent report, adolescent self-report, and data logging were in high agreement, although both parents and teenagers tended to overestimate the amount of daily hearing aid use by around 30 min. Discussion: In general, the results of the current study are inconsistent with the notion that adolescents decrease hearing aid use when they reach adolescence. Furthermore, many of the adolescents who participated in this study expressed positive attitudes about amplification, demonstrating emerging self-advocacy.