“Don’t Assume I’m Too Old!”: Assessment of Digital Literacy in a Clinical Sample of Adults With Hearing Loss

Abstract

Purpose: Digital and remote technologies are commonly used in audiology, which require digital literacy skills. The study objectives were to (a) assess digital literacy in adults with hearing loss attending an audiology clinic in Australia and (b) establish the relationship of digital literacy with demographic factors. Method: A single-center, cross-sectional survey on self-report of skill and confidence with mobile technologies using two measures (a) the validated Mobile Device Proficiency Questionnaire–16 items (MDPQ-16), and (b) the short twoitem Digital Literacy-2Q (DL-2Q) for clinical use asking about Mobile Skill and Mobile Confidence. The study sample was adults with primarily mild–moderate hearing loss (n = 110), aged 52–96 years (M = 73.9). Results: Age was negatively associated with MDPQ-16 scores, r(108) = −0.454, p