Title:Factors Affecting the Adoption and Use of Hearing Aids among Older Adults: A Systematic Review
Volume: 17
Issue: 3
Author(s): Abdolhakim Jorbonyan, Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz*, Mahshid Foroghan and Saeideh Mehrkian
Affiliation:
- Iranian Research Center on Aging, the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran,Iran
Keywords:
Hearing loss, hearing aids, influential factors, adoption, aid use, older adults.
Abstract: Objective: The most effective modality for presbycusis is using hearing
aids. However, the rate of adoption and use of hearing aids among the elderly is
not in line with the expectations. This review investigates the current evidence to
identify factors affecting the adoption and use of hearing aids among the elderly
with hearing loss.
Design: This is a systematic review whose sample includes English articles published
in peer-reviewed journals from January 2015 to October 2020. The search
was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, ProQuest, and Scopus electronic
databases. Study selection, data extraction, and quality assessments were performed
by two independent reviewers.
Results: In the 22 studies included in this review, a number of factors, including
demographic status (economic status and level of education), auditory factors
(hearing loss severity, presence of tinnitus, and the sound quality of hearing aids),
attitudinal and psychosocial factors (self-perceived hearing problems, perceived
self-efficacy, perceived benefit, support from significant others, and extrovert and
ambivert personality types) were identified as variables potentially impacting the
adoption and use of hearing aids.
Conclusion: The results show that demographic, attitudinal, and psychosocial factors,
as well as auditory factors, play an influential role in the adoption and use
rate of hearing aids among older populations suffering from hearing loss. Therefore,
it is necessary to consider these factors in order to formulate hearing healthcare
policies and adopt targeted and appropriate interventions in the process of prescribing,
adjusting, and evaluating hearing aids.
PROSPERO Registration: The protocol of this systematic review was published
in the International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) with
registration number: CRD42021227684 (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_
record.php?ID=CRD42021227684)
