Expectations about hearing aids: demographic and audiological predictors.

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Hearing Health
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Patient expectations significantly influence hearing aid outcomes.
• The Expected Consequences of Hearing Aid Ownership (ECHO) inventory measures these expectations.
• Evaluating the ECHO questionnaire's psychometric properties is crucial for its clinical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the reliability and validity of the ECHO questionnaire in a Danish audiology setting.
• To evaluate pre-fitting patient expectations regarding hearing aids and associated services.
• To identify predictors of expectation magnitude and assess realism in first-time users.

Main Methods:

• Administered the 14-item ECHO questionnaire to 805 consecutive audiology patients.
• Analyzed responses for reliability and validity, including subscale rearrangement.
• Examined demographic and audiological data (age, hearing status) as potential predictors.

Main Results:

• The ECHO questionnaire demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity after subscale adjustments.
• Patients reported very high pre-fitting expectations for hearing aid benefits and services.
• Age and hearing status predicted the magnitude of expectations for hearing aids and services.
• First-time users exhibited unrealistic positive expectations, particularly concerning potential negative aspects.

Conclusions:

• The adapted ECHO questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool for measuring hearing aid expectations.
• High pre-fitting expectations are common, with specific patient characteristics influencing their intensity.
• Addressing unrealistic expectations, especially in novice hearing aid users, is essential for successful audiological rehabilitation.